IMAX Expands Partnership With VieShow Cinemas In Three-Theatre Deal

NEW YORK, July 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- IMAX Corporation (NYSE:IMAX; TSX:IMX) and VieShow Cinemas Co., Ltd., the leading exhibitor in Taiwan, today announced an agreement for three IMAX^® theatre systems. The deal brings VieShow's IMAX commitment to 10 and to 232 the total number of IMAX theatres open or contracted to open in Greater China, of which 97 are currently in operation.   

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Under the terms of the new agreement, VieShow Cinemas will install three IMAX theatre systems in Taiwan, with the first to open in the city of Tainan in 2014 and the second and third systems slated to open in 2015 with the locations to be determined at a later date. The exhibitor currently has six IMAX theatres in operation in cities throughout Taiwan and four in backlog.

"Today's agreement is a direct result of IMAX's strong contribution to our box office results and the tremendous popularity of IMAX among our patrons, underscored most recently by our strong opening weekend for The Dark Knight Rises," said Jimmy Yuan, Chairman of VieShow Cinemas. "We're delighted to build on this success and are confident that IMAX's popularity will continue to grow among our guests."

"The level of enthusiasm for IMAX in Greater China is evidenced through the per screen averages, which represent some of the highest in the world," said Jiande Chen, CEO of IMAX China. "We're pleased to expand our footprint with leading exhibitor VieShow that has embraced the IMAX brand and supported our efforts to further penetrate the market in Greater China."

"We're pleased to expand our relationship with Taiwan's top exhibitor and bring more audiences the best in Hollywood films in the most immersive format available," said Don Savant, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Asia Pacific.

About VieShow
VieShow Cinemas was established in 1997, having brought the era of multiplex cinemas into Taiwan.  VieShow Cinemas is the current market leader in Taiwan's exhibition industry, with 11 locations island-wide, accounting for 35% of Taiwan's total box office market share. Further to continuing market expansions and development of innovative services, VieShow Cinemas established the distribution company VieVision Pictures in 2006 with the mission to provide more variety of films into Taiwan. More information about the company can be found at www.vscinemas.com.tw. 

About IMAX China
IMAX China is a wholly-owned subsidiary of IMAX Corporation, and is incorporated under the laws of Hong Kong. IMAX China was established by IMAX Corporation specifically to oversee the expansion of IMAX's business throughout Greater China.

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 June 30, 2012, there were 663 IMAX theatres (529 commercial multiplex, 20 commercial destination and 114 institutional) in 52 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. 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