Avatar Imax reach 200 million Worldwide Box Office

IMAX Corporation and Twentieth Century Fox today announced that James Cameron's Avatar, recipient of Golden Globe(R) awards for Best Picture and Best Director as well as nine Academy Award(R) nominations, has crossed the $200 million mark at IMAX(R) theatres worldwide during the weekend from Friday, February 19, 2010 through Sunday, February 21. During its 10th weekend, the film grossed $4.3 million from 179 IMAX theatres domestically, representing approximately 27% of the film's total domestic three-day weekend gross of $16.2 million. Internationally, the IMAX release grossed $3.9 million from 84 IMAX theatres, bringing the weekend's global IMAX total to approximately $8.2 million and the film's overall IMAX global total to more than $200 million.




"This incredible milestone not only reflects the mass appeal of watching Avatar in IMAX, it also reflects the significant expansion of our global audience base," said IMAX CEO Richard L. Gelfond. "Avatar was a perfect fit for IMAX and the type of event title IMAX fans and exhibitors embrace. We look forward to growing our audience even more as we continue to expand the IMAX network and offer moviegoers more of Hollywood's biggest films."

The IMAX release has delivered particularly strong performances across the international IMAX theatre network. In the Asia-Pacific market, the IMAX network has generated approximately $43 million from 38 screens, with 20 IMAX screens in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and Australia, each surpassing the $1 million mark.

In the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, the IMAX release generated more than $32 million from 35 screens, many of which surpassed the $1 million mark. Some IMAX locations have more than doubled that milestone, including Moscow's Nescafe IMAX Theatre, which has reported approximately $3 million in gross box office receipts from its single IMAX screen, and the BFI IMAX in London, which reported more than $2.3 from its single IMAX screen.

"The combination of James Cameron's revolutionary film and the enhanced image and sound of The IMAX Experience(R) has clearly resonated with Avatar fans around the world," said Greg Foster, Chairman and President, IMAX Filmed Entertainment. "We reached this milestone thanks to the strong word of mouth about the experience of watching Avatar in IMAX, and the hard work of all of those at Lightstorm, Twentieth Century Fox, IMAX and our global exhibition partners."

"Many exhibitors in domestic and international markets have pushed the boundaries of their operations to accommodate the high demand to experience this amazing movie in IMAX," added Phil Groves, IMAX's Senior Vice President, Film Distribution. "Many locations are still seeing strong business from extended show time schedules."

Avatar is directed and written by Academy Award Winner James Cameron and stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez and Sigourney Weaver. Avatar has been digitally re-mastered into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience(R).

Avatar is the story of an ex-Marine who finds himself thrust into hostilities on an alien planet filled with exotic life forms. As an Avatar, a human mind in an alien body, he finds himself torn between two worlds, in a desperate fight for his own survival and that of the indigenous people. More than ten years in the making, Avatar marks Cameron's return to feature directing since helming 1997's Titanic, the highest grossing film of all time and winner of eleven Oscars(R) including Best Picture. WETA Digital, renowned for its work in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and King Kong, has incorporated new intuitive CGI technologies to transform the environments and characters into photorealistic 3D imagery that will transport the audience into the alien world rich with imaginative vistas, creatures and characters.



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Avatar Breaks ‘Titanic’ International Record

The international portion of Avatar box office stands at $1.288 billion, eclipsing the all time record $1.242 billion haul of “Titanic.”

In North America, “Avatar” may have to wait up to two weeks to sink the $601 million total of “Titanic,” Fox said. Moviegoers in the United States and Canada have chipped in $552.8 million, enough to replace 2008’s “The Dark Knight” ($533 million) as the second-biggest movie of all time.

During the latest weekend, “Avatar” earned $36 million in North America and $107 million from 111 international markets, far outpacing other offerings.

It led the field in at least 29 foreign markets, including France ($123 million to date), China ($102 million), Germany ($96 million), Russia ($95 million) and Britain ($93 million).




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IMAX Dominates 3D Box Office With Avatar

LOS ANGELES, Jan 19, 2010 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) -- IMAX Corporation (Nasdaq:IMAX) (TSX:IMX) and Twentieth Century Fox today announced that James Cameron's Avatar, which just received Golden Globe(R) awards for Best Picture and Best Director,continued to deliver strong box office results in IMAX(R) theatres during the four-day weekend from Friday, January 15 through Monday, January 18. The IMAX release grossed $9.6 million from 179 IMAX theatres domestically, representing 17.7% of the film's total domestic four-day weekend gross of $55 million on less than 2% of the screens. Internationally, the IMAX release grossed $5.6 million from 83 IMAX theatres, bringing the four-day weekend's global IMAX total to approximately $15.3 million and the film's overall IMAX global total to more than $116.4 million.

Avatar is directed and written by Academy Award Winner James Cameron and stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez and Sigourney Weaver. Avatar has been digitally re-mastered into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience(R).
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James Cameron "Avatar" Breaks Imax Box Office Records

"The worldwide IMAX network was operating at near full capacity throughout the entire weekend," said IMAX CEO Richard L. Gelfond. "This success is a testament to the groundbreaking work of James Cameron and his team, who have raised the bar for storytelling and truly transported us into another world."





LOS ANGELES — IMAX Corp. said Monday the film "Avatar" made $9.5 million in box office ticket sales during its opening weekend in 178 of its theaters in the U.S.

"Avatar," a science fiction thriller directed by James Cameron and released by News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox, took in roughly 13 percent of the total sales in IMAX theaters, the company said. Total domestic sales came to $73 million.

The movie made another $4.1 million internationally on 58 screens, IMAX said. IMAX plans to release the film in 25 more locations in the next few weeks, including theaters in China and Japan.

"From the very beginning, James Cameron considered how the film would look and feel in IMAX, and as a result, Jim, Jon Landau and the Lightstorm team have produced a spectacular film that moviegoers are clearly reacting to with enthusiasm and strong word of mouth," added Greg Foster, Chairman and President of IMAX Filmed Entertainment. "Cameron's incredible vision and passion for pushing the technological boundaries of filmmaking, combined with a superb marketing and distribution campaign from Twentieth Century Fox has created an epic release that we are very proud to be a part of. We look forward to transporting more moviegoers to Pandora via The IMAX 3D Experience in the weeks ahead."

Avatar is the story of an ex-Marine who finds himself thrust into hostilities on an alien planet filled with exotic life forms. As an Avatar, a human mind in an alien body, he finds himself torn between two worlds, in a desperate fight for his own survival and that of the indigenous people. More than ten years in the making, Avatar marks Cameron's return to feature directing since helming 1997's Titanic, the highest grossing film of all time and winner of eleven Oscars(R) including Best Picture. WETA Digital, renowned for its work in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and King Kong, will incorporate new intuitive CGI technologies to transform the environments and characters into photorealistic 3D imagery that will transport the audience into the alien world rich with imaginative vistas, creatures and characters.



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