Interstellar Scores Record Global Launch In IMAX® With $20.5 Million Opening Weekend

First-Ever One-Quarter of the Domestic Box Office Came from IMAX, Driven by Strong $13.2 Million North American Launch in IMAX Network

News provided by

IMAX Corporation

Nov 10, 2014, 02:01 ET

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Nov. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- IMAX Corporation (NYSE: IMAX; TSX: IMX) today announced that Paramount Pictures' and Warner Bros. Pictures' release of writer-director Christopher Nolan's Interstellar blasted into IMAX® theatres in record-setting fashion, grossing $20.5 million from 574 IMAX locations worldwide. Domestically, Interstellar scored $13.2 million in 368 IMAX theatres, which equates to approximately $35,900 per screen; internationally, the film earned $7.3 million in 206 IMAX theatres, for a per-screen average of more than $35,400.

In North America, 19 of the top 20 locations for Interstellar were IMAX screens, helping to drive the largest-ever box office percentage for a first-run IMAX release domestically, with approximately one-quarter of the box office coming from IMAX.

In total, the worldwide opening weekend box office for Interstellar in IMAX surpassed the company's previous November global opening record of $17.1 million.

Internationally, Interstellar now ranks first among all IMAX 2D openings, as well as first for a November release in IMAX. The film saw exceptional results in IMAX territories including Germany ($40,000/screen), France ($43,000/screen), the U.K. ($45,000/screen), Singapore ($65,000/screen), Australia ($72,000/screen) and South Korea, where Interstellar scored $76,000 per screen, on pace to secure the territory's highest opening ever in IMAX. Weekend results did not include China, where the film is set to open later this week on 170 IMAX screens.

"Interstellar is the ideal movie for IMAX and fits squarely within our wheelhouse — it's a movie about space, by one of the world's finest filmmakers with whom we've partnered successfully over the past decade and features over an hour of footage specifically filmed with IMAX cameras — all combining to deliver an experience you can't replicate anywhere else," said Greg Foster, Senior Executive Vice President, IMAX Corp. and CEO of IMAX Entertainment. "Globally, IMAX screens continue to play to sold-out crowds and we expect strong word-of-mouth to propel Interstellar well into the holiday season. With huge thanks to Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas and our partners at Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures for their support and collaboration, we are extremely excited that Interstellar has launched with record-setting results."

In a successful run-up to the film's nationwide domestic launch on Friday, Nov. 7, Paramount Pictures released Interstellar two days early at 42 North American IMAX film-based locations, where the film grossed $1.2 million, with a per-screen average of more than $28,500. The international IMAX roll-out of Interstellar began on Nov. 6.

Continuing the legacy begun by IMAX trailblazer Christopher Nolan and his use of the 15 perf 65mm IMAX® cameras in The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, more than an hour of Interstellar was shot using IMAX cameras. Exclusively in IMAX theatres, these sequences will expand to fill the entire screen and will deliver unprecedented crispness and clarity and provide audiences with a truly cinematic and immersive experience.

Sequences of Interstellar shot in 35mm film have been digitally re-mastered into the image and sound quality of The IMAX 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 will make audiences feel as if they are in the movie.

About Interstellar
"INTERSTELLAR" stars Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Bill Irwin, Ellen Burstyn, John Lithgow and Michael Caine. With our time on Earth coming to an end, a team of explorers undertakes the most important mission in human history; traveling beyond this galaxy to discover whether mankind has a future among the stars. Directed by Christopher Nolan, written by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan, and produced by Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan and Lynda Obst.

To learn more about Interstellar, visit the film's Official website:
www.interstellar-movie.com.

About Paramount Pictures Corporation
Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIAB, VIA), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. Paramount controls a collection of some of the most powerful brands in filmed entertainment, including Paramount Pictures, Paramount Animation, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Insurge Pictures, MTV Films, and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Home Media Distribution, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., and Paramount Studio Group.

About Warner Bros. Pictures
Warner Bros. Pictures meets worldwide tastes and demands with a diverse mix of filmed entertainment and is a global leader in the marketing and distribution of feature films. The International Division operates offices in 24 countries and releases films in over 125 international territories, either directly to theaters or in conjunction with partner companies and co-ventures. Internationally, the Studio has been the market leader in six of the last 13 years, having surpassed $1 billion in grosses a total of 15 years, 12 of which were consecutive years, and crossed $2 billion five times, including 2004, 2007, 2010, 2011 and 2012.

About IMAX Corporation
IMAX, an innovator in entertainment technology, combines proprietary software, architecture and equipment to create experiences that take you beyond the edge of your seat to a world you've never imagined. Top filmmakers and studios are utilizing IMAX theatres to connect with audiences in extraordinary ways, and, as such, IMAX's network is among the most important and successful theatrical distribution platforms for major event films around the globe.

IMAX is headquartered in New York, Toronto and Los Angeles, with offices in London, Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing. As of September 30, 2014, there were 880 IMAX theaters (751 commercial multiplexes, 19 commercial destinations and 110 institutions) in 60 countries.

IMAX®, IMAX® 3D, IMAX DMR®, Experience It In IMAX®, An IMAX 3D Experience®, The IMAX Experience® and IMAX Is Believing® 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. These 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.

For additional information please contact:

Media:
IMAX Corporation - New York
Ann Sommerlath
212-821-0155
[email protected]

Entertainment Media:
Principal Communications Group - Los Angeles
Melissa Zukerman/Paul Pflug
323-658-1555
[email protected]
[email protected]