IMAX Tests Second-Screen Concept With Cinemas Guzzo In Canada

NEW YORK, May 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- IMAX Corporation (NYSE: IMAX; TSX: IMX) today announced an expansion of its revenue sharing agreement with Cinemas Guzzo for an additional IMAX® theatre system to be located at the Mega-Plex Marche Central 18 in Montreal, which is scheduled to open in July.  The deal marks the Company's initial test of two IMAX screens within a single multiplex.  Today's agreement also brings Cinemas Guzzo's total IMAX commitment to five screens under joint revenue sharing arrangements and brings the number of commercial theatres open or contracted to open in Canada to 32.

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The deal follows an earlier four-theatre agreement with Cinemas Guzzo announced in January. To date, three of the four theatres have opened, including the Mega Plex Marche Central 18 in Montreal; the Mega-Plex Terrebonne 14 in Terrebonne and the Mega-Plex Taschereau 18 in Brossard. Cinemas Guzzo's IMAX theatre at the Mega-Plex Pont-Viau 16 in Laval is slated to open in July.

"We're excited to have the first multiplex in the world that offers customers two IMAX screens," said Vincenzo Guzzo, Executive Vice President, Cinemas Guzzo. "Since opening our first IMAX theatre in March, we've experienced overwhelming demand and now with the ability to play simultaneous IMAX presentations in both French and English, we will be able to bring that experience to even more of our customers.  No other format can transport our guests into the action, intensity and emotion of a blockbuster film like IMAX can. This is providing a key competitive advantage to our theatres that we believe cannot be duplicated."

"We've been considering this 'second-screen' concept for quite some time and we're launching the initial test with leading regional exhibitor Cinemas Guzzo, which has been a great partner for us," said IMAX CEO Richard L. Gelfond. "With our continued network growth and increasing film slate, we believe this initiative will enable IMAX and our partners to fully capitalize on the strong demand during blockbuster opening weekends, when we are seeing more and more sellouts.  It will also provide us with greater flexibility to schedule multiple titles that overlap during the busy summer and holiday season."

IMAX's digital projection system delivers The IMAX Experience® and helps drive profitability for studios, exhibitors and IMAX theatres by eliminating the need for film prints, increasing program flexibility and ultimately increasing the number of movies shown on IMAX screens. The system can run both IMAX and IMAX® 3D presentations.

About Les Cinemas Guzzo

Part of the Quebec cinema scene since 1974, the family-owned Cinemas Guzzo was founded by Angelo Guzzo, who for many years led the struggle for independent movie theatre owners to obtain the right to project first-run movies, thus opening the way for others. Angelo Guzzo and son Vincenzo continue to work as a team to bring moviegoers the best that cinema has to offer.  The company has more than 142 screens, which will be 100% digital by May 2012, mainly in the Montreal area, and supports environmental cancer research through the Guzzo family Foundation. For more information, visit www.cinemasguzzo.com.

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.

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SOURCE IMAX Corporation