Marvel's The Avengers Sets Domestic, Global 3-Day Opening Weekend Records In IMAX® Theatres

LOS ANGELES, May 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- IMAX Corporation (NYSE:IMAX; TSX:IMX) Marvel Studios and The Walt Disney Studios today announced that the epic Super Hero adventure Marvel's The Avengers has surpassed IMAX's domestic opening weekend box office record by generating $15.3 million of the film's record-setting domestic gross of more than $200 million, resulting in an IMAX per-screen average of approximately $56,000 in 275 digital IMAX® theatres.

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Internationally, the film generated approximately $6.1 million over the weekend in 176 IMAX theatres, of which 80 were debut runs. This brings IMAX's international total to $16 million. Some international markets, including Poland and Japan, have yet to open.

The film also set a new IMAX three-day opening weekend global box office record with $21.4 million, bringing the worldwide gross to $31.3 million in IMAX theatres worldwide since its global release on April 25.

"With sellouts all weekend and IMAX fans around the world coming out in record numbers to see Marvel's The Avengers, the only way we could have done better would have been to have more seats," said Richard L. Gelfond, CEO of IMAX. "We saw particularly strong results in IMAX's key growth markets including China, which opened on Saturday to sell-out business across our network."  

"Extremely strong word-of-mouth resulted in exceptional day-to-day as well as week-to-week holds across our global network," said Greg Foster, IMAX Chairman and President of Filmed Entertainment. "With more international markets still to open, we expect this trend to continue over the next few weeks as the film continues to play in a number of domestic and international IMAX theatres. Congratulations to our longtime partners at Marvel, Disney and director Joss Whedon - IMAX is honored to be a part of this epic, record breaking cinematic event."

Marvel's The Avengers, based on the well-known Marvel comic book series, is directed by Joss Whedon and stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Tom Hiddleston, with Stellan Skarsgard and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.

Distributed by The Walt Disney Studios, Marvel's The Avengers: An IMAX 3D Experience marks the third Marvel Studios film presented in IMAX, following the releases of Iron Man 2: The IMAX Experience in 2010 and Thor: An IMAX 3D Experience in 2011.

The IMAX release of Marvel's The Avengers was digitally re-mastered into the image and sound quality of An IMAX 3D Experience^® with proprietary IMAX DMR^® (Digital Re-mastering) technology. The crystal-clear images coupled with IMAX's customized theatre geometry and powerful digital audio create a unique environment that makes audiences feel as if they are in the movie.

About Marvel's The Avengers

Marvel Studios presents "Marvel's The Avengers"—the Super Hero team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel Super Heroes Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins.

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Tom Hiddleston, with Stellan Skarsgard and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, and directed by Joss Whedon, "Marvel's The Avengers" is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series "The Avengers," first published in 1963 and a comics institution ever since. "Marvel's The Avengers" is an exciting event movie, packed with action and spectacular special effects.


"Marvel's The Avengers" is presented by Marvel Studios in association with Paramount Pictures. The film was produced by Marvel Studios' President Kevin Feige and executive produced by Alan Fine, Jon Favreau, Stan Lee, Louis D'Esposito, Patricia Whitcher, Victoria Alonso and Jeremy Latcham. The story is by Zak Penn and Joss Whedon and the screenplay is by Joss Whedon. The film was released May 4, 2012, and is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

About Marvel Entertainment

Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world's most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of over 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media over 70 years.  Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing and publishing.  For more information visit www.marvel.com.  Super Hero(es) is a co-owned registered trademark.

About The Walt Disney Studios

For more than 85 years, The Walt Disney Studios has been the foundation on which The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) was built. Today, the Studio brings quality movies, music and stage plays to consumers throughout the world. Feature films are released under four banners: Walt Disney Pictures, which includes Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios; Disneynature; Marvel; and Touchstone Pictures, which includes the distribution of live-action films from DreamWorks Studios. Original music and motion picture soundtracks are produced under Walt Disney Records and Hollywood Records, while Disney Theatrical Group produces and licenses live events, including Broadway theatrical productions, Disney on Ice and Disney LIVE!.  For more information, visit www.waltdisneystudios.com.

About IMAX Corporation

IMAX Corporation is one of the world's leading entertainment and technology companies, specializing in the creation and delivery of premium, awe-inspiring entertainment experiences. With a growing suite of cutting-edge motion picture and sound technologies, and a globally recognized entertainment brand, IMAX is singularly situated at the convergence of the entertainment industry, innovation and the digital media world. The industry's top filmmakers and studios are utilizing IMAX theatres to connect with audiences in extraordinary ways, and as such, the IMAX network is among the most important and successful theatrical distribution platforms for major event films around the globe. The Company's new digital projection and sound systems - combined with a growing blockbuster film slate - are fueling the rapid expansion of the IMAX network in established markets such as North America, Western Europe, and Japan, as well as emerging markets such as China and Russia. IMAX deliver the world's best cinematic presentations using proprietary IMAX^®, IMAX 3D^®, and IMAX DMR^® (Digital Re-Mastering) technologies. IMAX DMR enables virtually any motion picture to be transformed into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience^®. 

IMAX is headquartered in New York, Toronto and Los Angeles, with offices in London, Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing.  As of March 31, 2012, there were 643 IMAX theatres (510 commercial multiplex, 20 commercial destination and 113 institutional) in 52 countries.

IMAX^®, IMAX^® 3D, IMAX DMR^®, Experience It In IMAX^®, An IMAX 3D Experience^® and The IMAX Experience^® are trademarks of IMAX Corporation. More information about the Company can be found at www.imax.com. You may also connect with IMAX on Facebook (www.facebook.com/imax), Twitter (www.twitter.com/imax) and YouTube (www.youtube.com/imaxmovies).

This press release contains forward looking statements that are based on IMAX management's assumptions and existing information and involve certain risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Important factors that could affect these statements include, but are not limited to, general economic, market or business conditions, including the length and severity of the current economic downturn, the performance of IMAX DMR films, the opportunities that may be presented to and pursued by IMAX, competitive actions by other companies, conditions in the in-home and out-of home entertainment industries, the signing of theatre system agreements, changes in law or regulations, conditions, changes and developments in the commercial exhibition industry, the failure to respond to changes and advancements in digital technology, the failure to convert theatre system backlog into revenue, new business initiatives, investments and operations in foreign jurisdictions and any future international expansion, the inability to protect IMAX's intellectual property foreign currency fluctuations and IMAX's prior restatements and the related litigation.  These factors and other risks and uncertainties are discussed in IMAX's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and most recent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

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SOURCE IMAX Corporation