In a world in which people are happily foregoing an in-person movie experience because ‘it’ll be available on streaming in a couple of weeks,’ the idea that a specialist technology you simply can’t replicate at home may be the industry’s best bet. The problem is that regular movie-goers don’t fully understand the benefits, and why should they? Did anyone ever find out what Blu-ray was all about anyway?
A major fly in the ointment preventing a full IMAX takeover is that the general public are not privy to the ins and outs of how integral IMAX are to the movie-making ecosystem. Filmmakers are very much on the side of IMAX, even if outsiders are slow to catch on and it’s the very reason why after thanking her husband Christopher Nolan and her children, Best Picture winner for Oppenheimer Emma Thomas said, ‘And I want to thank Rich Gelfond at IMAX and everyone else at IMAX for believing in this movie when it maybe didn’t make much sense to do so.”
IMAX are involved much earlier in the production cycle then many think – for example Oppenheimer was filmed on IMAX cameras, as was Joker 2, so their fates were set from the very beginning. The end result from a consumer perspective is enhanced as the cameras mean they can stick with their own aspect ratio for a better experience. The industry meanwhile is safe in the knowledge that if they use IMAX cameras then IMAX guarantees the screen space in the exhibition period, which further incentivises the use of their proprietary cameras. Guaranteed screen space is gold, and already next years’ calendar is filling up.
On a recent episode of The Town, the entertainment industry podcast hosted by Matt Belloni, IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond was given a platform to really debunk some myths about his technology company. He is at pains to explain that IMAX is not simply a bigger screen, his business is software and hardware solutions, which through algorithms enlarge images and then retain the quality that is then projected on extra-ordinary screens. He laments the IMAX imitators, like 4DX ‘that all seem to have the letter “X” in their name,’ and this has likely diluted the brand in recent years. Ultimately, it is the cinemas that benefit from this piggybacking as if an IMAX film is sold old, they spill over into these PLFs (premium large format) or IMAX imitations. Its brand is something that Gelfond is actively working on, as high budget films like Dune 2 and A24’s runaway success, Civil War fit seamlessly into its brand identity that it is attempting to cultivate.
IMAX is also quietly cleaning up at the box office, with less than 1% of IMAX screens accounting for 22% of the box office worldwide last year, even as overall box office revenue trailed behind. While many studios and cinemas are still scrambling to drive people back to cinemas as attendance rates have dropped in line with their box office, IMAX box office figures in comparison remain flat and if adjusted for currency considerations would actually be up on 2019 numbers. The company can thank their ‘take rate’ in that they get paid both by the studios and exhibitors aswell, and their burgeoning camera business which guarantees screens years in advance is helping their bottom line significantly.
The company isn’t resting on its laurels either by focusing exclusively on big blockbusters, and foreign language films are being actively pursued for this format. It may have all begun when a recent biopic of Robert J. Oppenheimer by long-time IMAX collaborator Christopher Nolan took nearly $1 billion at the box office. It’s not just Nolan-type epics that are destined for this technology, smaller indie films are a growing business for the IMAX brand that hopefully will fill its capacity on slower days midweek. ‘IMAX is like the church that was built for Easter Sunday,’ Gelfond says, in that weekends are packed and ready for full capacity, and Wednesday’s are more sparsely populated.
This is all well and good from an industry perspective, but from a typical consumer perspective price difference is a major factor. A typical IMAX ticket for instance at BFI IMAX is sold for between £20 and £23, while a normal ticket is around £13. Many IMAX supporters would rather pay the extra price for the experience rather than the substandard experience of watching it at home – or even worse in a normal movie theatre. With attendance still an issue for studios, they have a good chance at making up for lost time over the past few years with this significant margin on tickets.
IMAX is a strong sell and its selling itself as a ‘by appointment only’ brand. Waiting for your favourite singer to come to town is similar to waiting to seeing it at IMAX – there’s no question about it because you’ll be there.
Sources: The Town by Matt Bellami, The BFI, The Hollywood Reporter
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