IMAX Signs First Theatre Deal With Bona Film Group

NEW YORK, June 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- IMAX Corporation (NYSE: IMAX; TSX: IMX) and Nongken Bona Film Investment Co. Ltd. (Nongken Bona), a subsidiary of Bona Film Group (Nasdaq: BONA), today announced an agreement for an IMAX® theatre to be located in the Nongken Bona International Cineplex in Tianjin, China, which is scheduled to open in September 2012. The agreement brings to 226 the total number of IMAX theatres open or contracted to open in Greater China, 92 of which are currently open.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20111107/MM01969LOGO )

This theatre deal follows an earlier agreement between Bona Film Group and IMAX for the presentation of Bona's martial arts epic Flying Swords of Dragon Gate in the immersive IMAX® 3D format. The film, released in China in December 2011, has become the fourth-highest-grossing Chinese-language film of all time and the highest-grossing Chinese IMAX DMR® title ever. In September 2012, Indomina Releasing will distribute the film to select IMAX theatres across North America for an exclusive limited engagement.

"With the incredible success of, Flying Swords of Dragon Gate, we have first-hand experience with IMAX's ability to transform the movie-going experience, making audiences believe that they're a part of the film," said Dong Yu, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Bona Film Group.  "Today's agreement builds upon our successful collaboration with IMAX and is a natural progression of this relationship.  We look forward to bringing audiences in Tianjin the best Hollywood and Chinese blockbusters in the most immersive format available."

"Outside of North America, China is our largest market with our highest per-screen averages worldwide," said Jiande Chen, CEO of IMAX China. "The increasing demand for The IMAX Experience® among Chinese movie-goers continues to drive our network growth. Our first joint project with Bona resulted in a film that broke box office records in China and we are happy to expand our partnership following this tremendous success."

"As the largest privately owned film distributor in China, with assets in production and exhibition, Bona is well-positioned to support both our local-language DMR and network expansion efforts in China," said Don Savant, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Asia Pacific. "We're delighted to once again partner with Bona to expand our network and reinforce our commitment to presenting the best domestic and international blockbusters in IMAX."

About Bona Film Group Limited
Bona Film Group Limited (Nasdaq: BONA) is a leading film distributor in China, with an integrated business model encompassing film production, film distribution, advertising, theatre management, film exhibition and talent representation. Bona distributes films to Europe, Greater China, Korea, Southeast Asia and the United States, invests and produces movies in a variety of genres, owns and operates thirteen movie theatres and manages a range of talented and popular Chinese artists. For more information about Bona, please visit www.bonafilm.cn.

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 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.

For additional information please contact:

SOURCE IMAX Corporation