Imax has shattered box office records during the recent Chinese New Year holiday, with a haul of $53 million, exceeding its previous record by 57%. The company also delivered its highest attendance ever, with 5.5 million admissions nationwide, and achieved its best market share yet, representing 4.3% of the box office on just 1% of screens.
The Spring Festival set an overall box office record, with RMB 9.51 billion ($1.3 billion) from January 28 to February 4. Imax’s portion of the gross was $36 million, making it the highest-grossing film in the format for the holiday. The animated sequel Ne Zha 2 led the way, scoring a record-breaking opening weekend with $22 million in Imax theaters.
Other films in Imax include Alibaba’s fantasy Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force ($7.6M), China Film Group’s martial arts actioner Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants ($3.7M), and Maoyan’s Detective Chinatown 1900 ($2.7M). Imax will continue to showcase Lunar New Year movies for another month.
Imax CEO Rich Gelfond expressed his excitement, stating that the holiday surge was “a shot of adrenaline for moviegoing in China” at just the right time. He also praised audience loyalty, saying that Imax is their first choice, transforming moviegoing into a cultural phenomenon and social talking point.
CEO Daniel Manwaring emphasized that Imax’s brand loyalty is strong, with audiences preferring the premium format. The company is confident in carrying this momentum throughout what promises to be a strong year for Chinese local language films.
Source: https://deadline.com/2025/02/imax-record-box-office-chinese-new-year-1236279121