IMAX Is Potentially Having A Record-Setting Quarter

June 22, 2015

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IMAX Is Potentially Having A Record-Setting Quarter

In a report issued Monday, MKM Partners’ Managing Director Eric Handler reviewed last weekend and this quarter’s box office. According to the note, this weekend’s Top 10 films grossed roughly $233 million, considerably above the firm’s $203 million projection.

A Record-Setting Weekend

Walt Disney Co (NYSE: DIS)’s "Inside Out" provided most of the upside on the back of better than expected sales. In fact, the movie set an opening weekend record for an original, non-sourced film.

Still, "Jurassic World" was the highest grossing film –- same as last week — and the second to ever gross over $100 million in its second weekend. Completing the Top 5 were "Spy," "San Andreas" and "Dope" (see Figure 1 below for details).

The strong results of the past couple of weeks have driven the second quarter box office up 11 percent, and analysts see “potential to finish up double-digits.

"Aiding this view is the potential for low double-digit gains next weekend as a result of solid carryover from Jurassic World and Inside Out combined with a likely $55mn+ opening for Ted 2,” they noted.

Implications For IMAX

Handler highlights that IMAX Corporation (USA) (NYSE: IMAX) has made strong contributions (about $84 million worldwide) to Jurassic World’s box office sales.

MKM Partners estimates IMAX’s global box office (GBO) for the second quarter is getting close to a record $310 million, beating the firm’s and analysts’ consensus forecasts of $290 million to $297 million. In fact, the firm believes the strength of Jurassic World will help IMAX produce GBO of $320 million to $325 million this quarter.

Handler estimates that two other movies, on top of Jurassic World, have surpassed $90 million of GBO sales this quarter –- setting a new IMAX record. The analyst reckons that "Furious 7" has grossed $92 million, while "Avengers: Age of Ultron" reached $91 million.

It should be noted that the figures above derive from MKM Partners’ estimates and have not been confirmed by IMAX yet. Benzinga has reached out to the company and is awaiting comment.