Imax Q3 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Imax (NYSE:IMAX) reported third-quarter financial results on Thursday. The transcript from the company’s third-quarter earnings call has been provided below.

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Summary

Imax Corporation reported a record-breaking third quarter with $175 million in revenue, $121 million in adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted EPS of $2.21.

The company achieved its highest-ever quarterly box office of $712 million, driven by the success of ‘The Odyssey,’ and anticipates exceeding its 2026 global box office guidance of $1.4 billion.

Imax signed agreements for 105 systems year-to-date, with plans to install 160-175 systems in 2026, signaling robust international expansion and strong demand for its technology.

Management emphasized the strategic importance of recent partnerships with content creators and the potential for dynamic pricing models to capture higher ticket revenues.

The company is exploring new revenue streams, including merchandise and technology partnerships, and expects continued growth in its global network and content offerings through 2027 and beyond.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Imax Corporation’s third quarter 2026 earnings conference call. All participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speakers’ presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session you will need to press star 11 on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star 11 again. Please be advised that today’s conference is being recorded.

I would now like to hand the conference over to your first speaker today, Jennifer Horsley, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Jennifer Horsley (Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and FP&A)

Good morning and thank you for joining us for Imax’s third quarter 2026 earnings conference call. On the call today to review the financial results are Richard Gelfond, Chief Executive Officer, and Natasha Fernandez, Chief Financial Officer. Rob Lister, Chief Legal Officer, is also joining us today. Today’s conference call is being webcast in its entirety on our website. A replay of the webcast will be made available shortly after the call. In addition, the full text of our earnings press release and the slide presentation have been posted on the Investor Relations section of our site.

Our historical Excel model is posted to the website as well. I would like to remind you of the following information regarding forward-looking statements. Today’s call, as well as the accompanying slide deck, may include statements that are forward-looking and that pertain to future results or outcomes. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual future results to not occur or occurrences to differ. Please refer to our SEC filings for a more detailed discussion of some of the factors that could affect our future results and outcomes.

Any forward-looking statements that we make on this call are based on assumptions as of today and we undertake no obligation to update these statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. During today’s call, references may be made to certain non-GAAP financial measures. Discussion of management’s use of these measures and the definition of these measures, as well as a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures, are contained in this morning’s press release and our earnings materials which are available on the Investor Relations page of our website at imax.com. With that, let me now turn the call over to Mr. Richard Gelfond. Richard.

Richard L Gelfond (Chief Executive Officer)

Thanks, Jennifer, and thanks, everyone, for joining us. On a Tuesday morning in September, a queue stretched around an entire block of Manhattan’s Upper West Side with fans hoping to score an Imax ticket for Dune Part 3. Four months before its release in July, officials in Montpellier, France reported a 30% uptick in ridership on the local tramways due to the addition of an Imax 70-millimeter location in the city. Representatives of LeBron James, Tom Cruise, and Coldplay were all given the same task this get their clients into an Imax screening of The Odyssey.

And news reports swirled of fans booking long-haul flights, selling out 2 a.m. screenings and, according to Variety, even delaying pregnancies to catch the opening of The Odyssey in Imax. To characterize these phenomena as a great quarter would be something of an understatement. What we saw in the third quarter is an awakening to the power and potential of Imax to impact global culture, to unlock new commercial opportunities, and to inspire a new level of demand and awe in audiences around the world. This awakening sits inside a cultural shift that is much bigger than Imax and that we believe has only begun to benefit our business.

Around the world, people are seeking human connection, community, and in-real-life experiences that they can share. Young people are looking for opportunities to escape the always-on world and be part of cultural moments that feel bigger than any one person’s screen. Investors and brands are waking up to the opportunity in AI-resilient businesses that deliver scarce events and entertainment that can’t be replicated by a chatbot. And when a filmmaker creates something extraordinary, audiences want to experience it together in the best possible way.

At Imax this quarter, we saw what this awakening can mean for our business. We delivered the best quarterly financial performance in our history and demonstrated the strength of our model in a big way. Record revenue of $175 million, record adjusted EBITDA of $121 million. Our fourth quarter ever of more than $100 million in EBITDA, adjusted earnings per share of $2.21, which, including a valuation allowance, is higher than any full year in our history.

And even without that allowance, still a significant record. We generated $712 million at the global box office, our highest-grossing quarter ever, and nearly double our previous best, and a record 7% share of the overall global box office. We also delivered adjusted EBITDA margins of 69%. Cash from operations year-to-date is $122 million, up 25% year over year, and we’ve delivered 105 signings for Imax systems year to date, including 22 in the last week alone, with a healthy pipeline of agreements currently in negotiation.

As our performance for the full year comes into view, we expect to significantly exceed our guidance of $1.4 billion in global box office for 2026. Our margins for the year will be higher than the mid-40s range we previously guided to, and we’re on track to achieve our guidance for installs for the year. Our results for the third quarter were led by an extraordinary cinematic event. Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, the highest-grossing Imax release of all time, with more than $550 million in box office worldwide. I want to thank and congratulate Chris, Emma Thomas, the cast and crew, and our partners at Universal on an achievement that stands among the greatest in movie history. In its wake, more filmmakers and studios are leaning into what Imax can bring to production, marketing, and the theatrical run.

We’re already seeing great anticipation for Dune Part 3. With nearly two months until its release, we banked more than $30 million in presales through its first month of play, already good for our second-highest presales of all time behind Odyssey. The BFI Imax sold an astounding 33,000 tickets for Dune Part 3 in just 24 hours, smashing the storied venue’s record for day-one presales. This kind of fan frenzy underscores an opportunity in ticket pricing for Imax and that we stand to benefit from a more dynamic pricing model.

It also makes a powerful case for our exhibition partners to get more Imax into their circuits. Year to date we’ve signed agreements for 105 systems worldwide, 65% of which are at new locations, and we have a strong pipeline with conversations in progress for a potential 150 new and upgraded Imax locations worldwide. Most recently, we’ve signed a 13-theater agreement in Europe that we expect to close and announce, the details of which shortly; a four-theater agreement with our partners at TGV in Malaysia, a strong growth market for us; a three-theater agreement in high-value locations across the Middle East with our partners at Vox; and our first agreement ever with SMT, the fourth-largest exhibitor in Japan, for a new marquee location. We continue to drive strong growth in rest-of-the-world markets with 71 signings year to date, compared to 39 for the full year 2025. We’re also increasingly innovative and agile in how we partner with our clients. Given our strong liquidity, we are deploying capital in new ways in our sales agreements to accelerate network growth. We’re also developing pilots of new Imax concept auditoriums, including smaller ultra-premium projects that incorporate our immersive aspect ratio, depth of view, and sound.

And we’re also working towards expanding our Imax 70-millimeter film locations by 10 to 15 new locations. The appeal of Imax 70-millimeter is unmistakable fans seek out the format, go to incredible lengths to secure tickets, and keep coming back for repeat viewings. On the heels of our success this summer, we’re cultivating several new opportunities that will continue to grow in the future. Our Odyssey merchandise, including our film strips and our first-ever sold-out popcorn buckets, showed us how much audiences value a physical connection to an Imax experience which they love.

And we see a real opportunity in Imax collectibles and other merchandise, which we continue to pursue with efforts like our Godzilla -0 Imax apparel, which is available right now; a full line of products tied to December’s release of Dune Part 3; and merch tie-ins to 2027 key releases, as well as efforts to expand the business further internationally. We’re also speaking with potential partners across technology, entertainment, and live experiences.

As demonstrated by our agreement with Meta to certify next year’s Meta VR glasses as the first-ever Imax Enhanced Glass VR device, we have an excellent slate of films for the next several years that offer great opportunity to extend our momentum. Our third quarter results were further bolstered by Brand New Day. Despite programming the film only beginning in its second week and splitting screens with Odyssey, Spider-Man delivered $58 million in Imax global box office worldwide, and we concluded the quarter with Zach Krieger’s Resident Evil, our biggest horror opening ever. In like-for-like markets, we delivered 15% in its domestic debut. This weekend we’ll see the global opening of our first-ever Filmed for Imax release from Japan, Godzilla -0.

The film delivered our best opening day of all time in Japan, a full 20% higher than the global smash Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle. And Godzilla opened two days ago in the U.S. to $2.3 million, the biggest ever for a Japanese film. For the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend, Imax will be the exclusive theatrical home for Netflix’s The Further Misadventures of Cliff Booth. It’s written by Quentin Tarantino, directed by David Fincher, stars Brad Pitt, and Imax is the only place you could see it theatrically during the two-week opening period, and it marks an exciting experiment for us, releasing across more than 550 Imax locations worldwide ahead of its debut on Netflix this Christmas.

Our year ends with Dune Part 3, which we anticipate will play well into the new year across our screens, particularly our 70-millimeter locations. Additionally, we are releasing Avengers Doomsday in China. Anticipation for the film in China is off the charts, 65% of our results for Spider-Man Brand New Day, according to Maoyan. We expect very strong indexing for Avengers even as it shares screens with Dune Part 3. After its first two weeks of play, both Dune and Avengers kick off what looks like a very strong ’27 slate.

The Chinese New Year holiday is expected to include The Wandering Earth 3, the long-awaiting new installment to China’s most successful live-action franchise, and The Wandering Earth 4 is expected to release later in ’27. Wandering Earth 2 is our second-highest grossing Chinese release of all time. The first quarter also gives us Michael B. Jordan’s The Thomas Crown Affair, which was shot with Imax cameras, and the first-ever Imax release of original Star Wars in celebration of its 50th anniversary, which will include a run in select Imax 70-millimeter locations.

We will have four Imax 70-millimeter film releases next year and at least 12 Filmed for Imax releases, including a strong slate which includes Star Wars Starfighter, a return to the swashbuckling origins of the franchise starring Ryan Gosling, which will also be presented in Imax 70mm film; Man of Tomorrow, the sequel to 2025’s Superman; Beyond the Spider-Verse, the conclusion of the groundbreaking animated trilogy from Project Hail Mary filmmakers Christopher Lloyd and Phil Miller; a very strong slate of family releases including Frozen 3, the Minecraft sequel, and the first Shrek release since 2010; Varanasi, our first Filmed for Imax release from the celebrated Indian filmmaker behind 2022’s global hit RRR. Several Japanese anime franchises are expected to return to the big screen in ’27 as well, and the year ends with Secret Wars, a massive event film which is expected to transform the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The long-term content pipeline is extremely promising beginning in ’28 with Marvel’s X-Men, with an all-new cast revealed to much fanfare at Disney’s D23 conference; Ghost Rider, which reunites Ryan Gosling and director Shawn Levy; Black Panther 3 from our longtime partner Ryan Coogler, who plans to shoot in film, and you could be sure will tailor that film to the Imax experience; the long-awaited Batman Part 2 starring Robert Pattinson; The Beatles, a first-of-its-kind 4-part cinematic event that will be shot with Imax cameras; Miami Vice 85, the Filmed for Imax release from Top Gun: Maverick and F1 director Joe Kaczynski; and Elden Ring, an adaptation of the wildly popular video game and the first-ever Filmed for Imax release from the red-hot studio A24. And look at the fact that that’s our ’28 slate and it’s more than a year and a half in advance, so we have a long time to fill in additional titles. And looking further out, we’re very excited to see what our friend Denis Villeneuve does as he takes the reins of the James Bond franchise with an all-new actor at its helm.

To close, the third quarter marked a historic achievement for Imax and our record-breaking success is waking the world up to the possibilities of Imax. Our unique competitive advantages and expanding moat have never been clearer. A fiercely loyal fan base and a strong global brand, unrivaled creative partnerships, a diverse global network and growing demand among exhibitors worldwide, technology that sets the standard for immersive entertainment, and a business model capable of translating those advantages into long-term shareholder value.

We remain focused on capitalizing on these strengths and driving lasting growth. We have a compelling slate of ahead opportunities to expand our global network and new ways to connect with fans. Most of all, we have a team that knows how to work with our partners and deliver when the whole world is watching. That’s why we see the Imax’s awakening as an opportunity we’ve only just begun to realize. Thank you. With that, and now I’ll turn it over to Natasha.

Natasha Fernandez (Chief Financial Officer)

Thanks, Rich, and good morning, everyone. Our historic third quarter results demonstrate the significant earnings power of the Imax global platform. We set a box office record each month of the quarter. We achieved record results across nearly every financial metric from revenue to net income to margin, clearly proving out the strength of our business model. We’ve seen a marked acceleration in signings with over 100 signings to date and have a very active, growing pipeline.

We generated a record level of operating cash flows of over $85 million in the quarter, and we exceeded all expectations, silencing any doubts about our full-year box office guidance and pacing us well ahead of the long-term targets we shared at our investor day last year. With moviegoer demand for Imax surging, we are seeing the embedded operating leverage in our business model flow through at exceptional levels. As we’ve discussed, when we exceed $250 million of global box office in a quarter, incrementality can flow through at a margin of approximately 85%. That certainly held true in the third quarter as we delivered a record $121 million in adjusted EBITDA at a 69% margin and an increase of over 2,000 basis points year over year.

This year, we had several proof points, including Project Hail Mary and the Odyssey, that when a title exceeds approximately $100 million, the incrementality on that title can grow at an even faster rate. Turning to the third quarter financial results, we delivered revenues of $175 million, up a substantial 64% from the $107 million a year ago, and achieved a third quarter gross margin of $126 million, which grew 88%. This resulted in a record 72% margin, which reflects a 920 basis point improvement year over year, driven by the very positive flow-through of the higher box office captured in the quarter.

Operating expenditures, which include R&D and SG&A expenses excluding stock-based compensation, were $30 million for the quarter, an increase of $1.9 million over the prior year, reflecting an increase in annual employee performance-based incentives, partially offset by continued cost discipline, which helped turn the strong top-line growth into a larger increase in profitability. As a result, third quarter adjusted EBITDA growth significantly outpaced revenues, up $69 million year over year to $121 million, and adjusted EBITDA margin reached 69% from 48.6% in the prior year. For September year to date, our adjusted EBITDA margin now stands at 55.6%, well ahead of our full-year margin guidance of mid-40s percent and positioning us to achieve, in 2026, an adjusted EBITDA margin of approximately 50%. These results demonstrate the significant operating leverage and opportunity as we further expand the network and grow Imax box office.

Our results for this year show the multiple levers we have to deliver profitable growth; contribution can vary by individual quarters based on the slate, revenue mix, and timing of system installation activity. In the end, we’re managing these levers across the year to deliver significant growth on an annual basis. This record operating profitability flowed to our bottom line, resulting in third quarter adjusted net income of $128 million, a growth of 388% year over year, and adjusted EPS of $2.21, up $1.74 year over year. Included within our Q3 net income was a tax benefit of $236.7 million from the release of a deferred tax valuation allowance pertaining to future years. During the COVID period, we originally established a valuation allowance against our deferred tax assets.

As trends have improved, the future outlook is expected to include sustainable profits, and as such, we have determined that it is now more likely than not that the company will realize these deferred tax assets in the future. This adjustment underscores our transition to consistent profitability across operating units and unlocks substantially all of the value of our historical tax attributes, including this release of tax attributes pertaining to future years.

Our third quarter adjusted net income would have still constituted a full-year record at $91.3 million, a growth of 248% year over year, and adjusted EPS would be $1.58, up $1.11 year over year, both of which are also quarterly and full-year records. We believe that comparison helps distinguish the underlying improvement in operating performance from the discrete tax item. Looking ahead, we expect an effective tax rate of approximately 27%, subject to the mix of earnings across jurisdictions and other discrete items.

In our Content Solutions segment, revenues grew 110% to $94 million, driven by our record quarterly box office of $712 million. Our box office results include a significant contribution from the 41 70 millimeter film locations, which delivered 13%, or $92 million, of the Q3 box office, resulting from the virtually sold-out run of the Odyssey at these locations, and where we realized a higher average film take rate to support the unique requirements around distributing and projecting 70 millimeter film.

Imax indexing, or market share, was strong across all titles and has noticeably trended higher as moviegoers look to Imax for the best possible theatrical experience. The Imax network represents only 0.8% of screens worldwide, yet for the quarter our global indexing was 6.7%, which included a remarkable 9.3% domestically, taking us to a September year-to-date global market share of 4.6%, which compares to 3.8% for the full year 2025. As our network grows, the Film for Imax program expands, and consumer demand for Imax compounds, we expect the positive market share trend to continue as a tailwind to our overall box office performance.

Content Solutions gross profit was $72 million, or 76%, an increase of $40 million, or 125%, versus the prior-year period, reflecting a high level of incrementality in our film business. Turning to our Technology Products and Services segment, Imax delivered revenues of $77 million, a growth of 28% from the prior year, driven primarily by the higher box office performance, fueled joint revenue sharing rental revenues, along with the higher revenues from the system contract renewals. The incrementality in our model, along with the positive mix shift to higher-margin revenue streams, led to a gross profit margin of 69%, or a 1,100 basis point increase year over year for the Technology segment.

Looking at installations, coming off our strongest second quarter in a decade, the pace of installations took a breather as exhibitors prioritized keeping their Imax auditoriums open for the Odyssey and Spider-Man. We installed 32 systems in the quarter compared to 38 in the prior year. Through today, we have now installed, or are in the process of installing, 125 systems, and we continue to expect 160 to 175 system installations for the full year 2026.

Our installation schedule is heavily weighted toward the fourth quarter, as usual, with a focus on joint revenue sharing arrangements and subject to exhibitor construction and opening schedules. Looking at signings, we signed agreements for 20 systems during the quarter, compared with 19 a year ago. Since quarter end, we have signed agreements for an additional 26 systems, with more near completion, bringing our year-to-date signings to more than 100 signings. What is notable in these numbers is the diversity of signings, which span 19 countries and territories. In fact, in the U.S., we have signed deals with nine regional partners outside of the major circuits so far this year.

The breadth of demand is encouraging, and our active pipeline has grown considerably in the recent months. We are seeing the dynamics Rich has described on many occasions play out just as we thought. We have a long-term view of the opportunities that will drive the growth in our network, and we are executing with that in mind. Turning to cash flows and the balance sheet, cash flows from operations for the nine months was notably strong with $122 million as a net inflow versus $98 million for the same period in 2025. Free cash flow for the nine months was $100 million, a 50.3% conversion from adjusted EBITDA. The third quarter alone generated $86 million in operating cash flows. These very positive results reflect both the positive incrementality and cash dynamics in our business model, where higher operating profits carry a significant flow-through to cash at higher box office levels.

We are also investing to expand the worldwide Imax network. Year to date includes $12 million of exhibitor lease incentive payments within operating cash flows and $14 million in investment in equipment for joint revenue sharing arrangements within investing cash flows. We believe we have a significant opportunity, given our strong balance sheet, to fuel the expansion of our network and take full advantage of the growing value of our brand and the promising slate that continues to take shape for years ahead.

We maintain a strong capital structure, both with our high flow-through operating model and management’s focused execution. As of September 30th, we held $208 million in cash and $250 million in convertible debt at 0.75%, with a net leverage of 0.2x. As our capital position continues to strengthen, we are well positioned to continue to support growth and drive shareholder return. To conclude, Imax’s strategic and financial position have never been stronger. Our results demonstrate the advantages in our diversified platform: a diversified, growing content portfolio—Hollywood, local languages from across 11 countries, music, sports, and live events—that continue to deliver outsized hits; a diversified, growing global footprint where we’re creating opportunity in sales and system installations across mature and emerging markets alike, with more partners than ever; new revenue streams we’re unlocking given the strength of our brand and technology, from merchandising to licensing partnerships and our unique asset-light model. With a myriad of advantages, from the operating leverage that drives significant margin expansion, to the recurring revenue derived from maintenance fees worldwide, to the accelerating cash flow generation accompanying higher margins, the slate for the next several years looks excellent.

We continue to book new films and experiences. We continue to strengthen our content portfolio, grow our network, and operate with cost discipline. Demand for Imax is growing among studios and filmmakers, exhibitors, and fans worldwide. And our Film for Imax content pipeline extends years out. And we believe this will continue to drive expanding margins and cash flows for our business, reflecting the earnings power of the Imax global platform. Even as we near the close of another record year, we are looking ahead to delivering long-term growth and strong returns for our shareholders.

Thank you. And with that, I will now turn the call over to the operator for Q&A.

OPERATOR

Thank you. At this time, we will conduct the question-and-answer session. To ask a question, you will need to press Star 11 on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press Star 11 again. Please limit yourselves to one question to allow us to get to as many as possible. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Our first question comes from the line of Eric Handler from Roth Capital. Eric, your line is now open.

Eric Handler (Analyst)

Good morning. Thanks for the question. Rich, I’m curious, now with the success of the Odyssey and Imax’s continued market share gains across all movies, with the signings that you’re doing now and what you have in the backlog, is it possible to accelerate installations and push those installations maybe forward a bit from your backlog so that we now see maybe, you know, higher installation numbers not just 27, but 28 and 29 as well too?

Richard L Gelfond (Chief Executive Officer)

I mean, I’d say, Eric, the way I would frame it is, you know, rather than take our existing schedule and push it, I think it’s possible that there’ll be a shorter turnaround time going forward because obviously the slate is really strong. The market share gains, the results speak for themselves. So I think we could say to them, look, if you want to get—I’m making this up—opened by Avengers next year, you need to get it going more quickly. So I think the cadence might change, but I think it’s a little late in the game to affect ’26 or ’27 because, again, without boring you with the real-world details, there are permits, there are work crews.

You can’t just turn it on like a light switch, but maybe you could influence the cadence.

Eric Handler (Analyst)

Great, thank you.

OPERATOR

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Eric Wold from Texas Capital Securities. Eric, your line is now open.

Eric Wold (Analyst)

Thanks. Good morning, everyone. Two questions, I guess. One. First off, any more details you can provide on the pilot of kind of the new Imax footprint you’re testing? What is the difference in audience size or auditorium size that could work and how much of the market that could potentially open up that you can’t address now? And kind of what any difference in kind of cost from the current system?

Richard L Gelfond (Chief Executive Officer)

Hi, Eric. I think part of it comes down to where are the opportunities that we can go into. And so we’ve always looked towards very large auditoriums, but we’re looking at what are the opportunities to get into major cities where you don’t exist that have maybe a smaller size and still provide the Imax experience through that. And so we’ve made some progress on that. And that’s an area where we continue to look at from that perspective. And I think there’s opportunities as we look at growing the network that we can move towards that as well.

But of course, for the Imax experience, we’re still looking towards our aspect ratios and providing the differentiated experience for the consumer.

Eric Wold (Analyst)

Understood. And then second question. I know you’re not providing ’27 box office guidance yet. You guys talked about being well above your ’26 guidance. Maybe talk a little bit about the puts and takes of what you see in ’27 that could potentially provide a path to growth over ’26.

Richard L Gelfond (Chief Executive Officer)

I mean, in general, Eric, and we are going to give guidance sometime early next year. We just looked at historical patterns and that’s generally when we do it. And also this year provides a unique opportunity because we have the flow over of Adventures in June 3rd and the really strong Chinese New Year slate. So we want to better understand that as we put together a number. But in general, some of the positives are obviously what I refer to as the Imax awakening. If you look at the effect over the last couple years of success has really led to more success. So I’ll give you an example. I mentioned briefly in my comments. So we opened Godzilla yesterday or the day before in the US and we did 2.3 million on a Tuesday opening. And I mean, that just was not happening pre-Odyssey. So I think we want to just let it settle a little bit and see what the impact is.

And by the way, Godzilla was also the number one movie, number one box office day in the history of Japan, and it was the number one box office day for Imax. Remember, we’re only weeks away from this incredible awakening that’s happened. So that’s one thing. We want to better understand what the market share is going to be and what the box is going to look like. I think although we’re very happy with the ’27 slate, it’s still not even close to 100% filled in. We have some visibility into things that might happen, but we haven’t filled it out yet. So, you know, we think given all the good things that have happened, more people are going to see Imax as a must-have when they figure out their distribution patterns.

So that will fill in and we’ll know more about that and where that’s going. We’re bringing back more movies next year, as we mentioned, Star Wars and The Prestige, a Chris Nolan film, and that will fill it in and we want to understand a little bit more. So, again, I understand people’s—I don’t mean to be pejorative—but impatience, like they want to know it yesterday. But look at our signings. I mean, we signed over 20 in the last week. These things don’t happen in one minute. Plus, you know, we’re all looking at a financial spreadsheet. So I think we want to better understand how it settles in so we could give more accurate guidance.

Eric Wold (Analyst)

No, thanks, Rich. That’s helpful. Appreciate it.

OPERATOR

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Drew Crumb from B. Riley Securities Incorporated. Drew, your line is now open.

Drew Crumb (Analyst)

Okay, thanks. Good morning, everyone. So, Rich, you’ve remarked in the recent past the challenges around adding 70 millimeter locations. With the plans that you announced to roll out another 10 to 15 locations, what has changed and what is the time frame for those launches? Thanks.

Richard L Gelfond (Chief Executive Officer)

Well, what changed was some real creativity by our technology department. So someone realized that we have between 10 and 15 3D film theaters. So think of it as projectors that have the ability to show two films at the same time. We came to the realization it’s unlikely there will be 3D film locations. So we’re in the process of figuring out how to split those 3D film projectors into two projectors, and you’ve got to put a business model around it, figure out how to price it and do things like that.

We’re pretty confident we can do this. But exactly, you know, the dating, how long it’ll take and what the costs are, we’re working through. So that’s specifically why we didn’t give more detail.

Drew Crumb (Analyst)

Understood. Thanks.

OPERATOR

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Michael Hickey from Stonex. Michael, your line is now open.

Michael Hickey (Analyst)

Hey, Rich, Natasha, Jennifer. Congratulations guys on amazing success in the quarter and with Odyssey. So kudos to all of you, I guess. Two questions, Rich. Just the first one, you touched on it a little bit. I just wanted to sort of focus entirely on it, just Odyssey’s lasting impact. You had been saying for a while that you thought Odyssey, like Avatar, could be a transformational event for you and your firm. Now that you’ve come out and you put multiples on Avatar here in terms of box office performance and probably recognition, what do you think that that’s changed, I guess, most about your long-term opportunity, whether it’s filmmaker commitments, exhibitor demand, which you touched on a bit, and maybe consumer behavior.

Richard L Gelfond (Chief Executive Officer)

So I think I might have discussed this a little with you, Mike, offline in another conversation. But we had high expectations for Odyssey, but it blew away our high case. And before it opened, when it was pretty clear that was going to happen, I told my management team that it was going to affect our business in ways we haven’t thought of yet. And in fact that’s really happened. Just different projects, different filmmakers, different ideas have really come out of the woodwork in the couple months since it opened.

And, you know, just without getting into detail, you probably read we’re doing a project where we’re developing a high-end entertainment system for autonomous vehicles. And that’s, you know, it’s not going to happen tomorrow, but we could see results within the next year. We announced on this call that we signed a deal with Meta about VR glasses. And by the way, all of these things come with payments coming in to us. So, you know, beforehand I didn’t really give a lot of thought to the largest OEM in China calling us to make special things for automobiles.

So there’s just been so many inquiries about so many interesting things, something we’re probably not going to do. But someone came to us with a brand association, potentially like a very significant one. But we’re not sure if it’s right for a brand or not. We’re sorting it out. So again, it’s a variation of the answer I just gave to the last question. There’s just so many seeds and so many things sprouting. Merchandise is something I talk a fair amount on the call and, forget about the consumer, the studios we’re working with on releasing movies in ’27, a lot of them are approaching us about doing merch together. And, you know, back to my favorite movie of the last day. You know, we did merchandise with Coho, but Godzilla, and we’re selling that in the US and elsewhere.

So it’s just, not to use a cliche, but so many irons in the fire. You know, we’re just going to have to see how they play out. We know there’s a lot of things. We believe they’re going to be really good for us, but it’s too early to quantify them.

Michael Hickey (Analyst)

Nice. Appreciate the color, Rich. Also thinking a lot about international growth for you guys and maybe outside of China. I know you’ve had a lot of recent success there, whether it’s film or new installations. And I think you probably have the most to gain in terms of market share relative to China and the US. So, sort of thinking outside of China, Rich, on international, where are you most excited to grow? And you mentioned Japan. What are you seeing in key markets like Japan?

Richard L Gelfond (Chief Executive Officer)

Well, the last time I had been to Japan was four years ago until I went last week. And we’ve grown our network by about 60, 70% during that period of time. And the exhibitors are really happy because their per-screens are really high and they’re killing it. And by the way, just to give you the full narrative, Odyssey did fine in Japan, but it was not a record territory for us. And they’re doing it through our whole slate and a variety of it. And, you know, one of the signings we just did was in the last week after our trip, but I think Western Europe is still extremely underpenetrated. We announced today that we did a three-theater deal with Vox. And you’ve got to remember that’s in the middle of a war. So I think that tells you a little something about the potential. You know, our underpenetrated markets, Mike, like LatAm, India, the US still has a strong growth trajectory to go.

But since you asked the question, I’m going to go in another way a little, which is while we were in Japan, we not only met all of our clients, but we also met some of the anime studios and some of the other studios. And, you know, they’ve really taken notice by those numbers. So you’re going to see more come out of there than you’ve seen before. We also did investor meetings while we were there. I saw roughly 30 investors on the trip, and I went to one meeting where there were five investors and the total assets under management were over a trillion dollars.

So I think as we become more and more global, we’ll certainly benefit on the theater side, which is your question. But I think we’ll also benefit significantly on the content side. And I think we’ll also bring in a more diverse investor group.

Michael Hickey (Analyst)

That’s great. Thanks, Rich. Good luck, guys.

OPERATOR

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of David Joyce from Seaport Research Partners. David, your line is now open.

David Joyce (Analyst)

Thank you. Your record box office flowed nicely through the film remastering and distribution line. But I was wondering why the system rentals take rate was less than the prior year. What are the puts and takes there? Thanks.

Natasha Fernandez (Chief Financial Officer)

Hi, David. So there’s always puts and takes, but I think part of it just comes from the mix of films in the quarter. And we actually had. We had a lot of box office flowing through. And I think part of it is you can actually see high incrementality come through in the system rentals when you hit certain levels. But I just think part of it comes from local markets as well and all of those pieces that flow through. But we actually had a very high flow through when it comes through from Odyssey.

And as you saw in the EBITDA margin, 69% was the highest in our history. It was a great test of our model. As we looked at it, the JV costs generally are fixed, so the flow through is high. The DMR spend can be a little more varying based on what our decisions are in any particular quarter that one can ebb and flow. But I think what was great about what we saw in the incrementality in the quarter is that we’ve been talking about this for a long time, talking about when we hit over 250 in a quarter, that incrementality will flow through.

But what you can see is when you have higher levels for one particular film, that will flow through at an even higher rate. And there are opportunities where that can continue to grow as well.

David Joyce (Analyst)

All right, thanks for the color.

OPERATOR

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of David Karnofsky from JP Morgan. David, your line is now open.

David Karnofsky (Analyst)

Hi. Thank you, Rich. It’d be great to get an update on China box office generally. You know, you talked through Avengers, obviously that did well in 2019. You call that pre-sales? Just more color on that would be greater. Your view of Chinese New Year. And then separate question. There’s been some noise around Cliff Booth with your exhibitor partners. The issue seems to be more about the length of the window than the Imax exclusivity. So just want to get your view on how you’ll proceed there and whether you still see room for that kind of Imax exclusive model on a go forward basis. Thank you.

Richard L Gelfond (Chief Executive Officer)

There’s a lot packed in there, David, so if I don’t answer the whole thing, you know, please come back at me. So the first part of the question I was trying to formulate an answer to. The second, the first part of the question was before the Cliff Booth question you asked me.

David Karnofsky (Analyst)

Yeah, just asked about China. And the view of

Richard L Gelfond (Chief Executive Officer)

China’s become a better story for us. The first half of this year was pretty weak in China and we were significantly behind budget for the year in China, but we had the strongest summer we’ve ever had in China. And the Odyssey was one of the factors, but certainly not the only one. There are a lot. So summer came on strong. I think when we look at what’s coming up, there’s a good bit of timing that happened in China. So we have a commitment to play Avengers in China exclusively with Disney.

So we’re doing that when it opens around Christmas. But and Maoyan, which is the service that tracks these things, has it really tracking very well. And I believe they estimated for the holiday that Imax would do between like 50 and 65 million. If you put that all together, it brings us pretty much on budget for the year for China this year. But the other good part was because we have that commitment and we couldn’t commit to Dune, but China just dated Dune to open on December 31st. So after the exclusivity period runs out, I suspect we’ll still want to play more Avengers, because I think it’ll do very well. But we can share screens. As you know, we have 800 screens there. So it’s the rare part of the world where we could capitalize from both. And that leads into Chinese New Year. And as I mentioned in my prepared remarks, we have Wandering Earth 3, and we’ve been meeting with the director and the studio, and we’re leaning into that a lot over Chinese New Year.

As a matter of fact, our head of China, Daniel Manwarin, is in Beijing today putting together the plans to do that. And then there’s another Wandering Earth schedule for later in the year, next year. So, you know, we think that’s on the rebound. Ironically, yesterday we had our China board meeting and some of our directors of that company are based in China or go there on a fair basis. And they’ve said compared to the rest of the, of the box office in China, Imax is doing extremely well.

And he said, you don’t know how well positioned you are because they’ve had, that industry has had problems and we’re kind of holding our own. Now back to the Cliff Booth question, your second one, which is, if you remember, we were going to do an exclusive for Narnia with Greta Gerwig in the Thanksgiving slot. And in the deal we did for that, we agreed to use the programming language in virtually all our agreements, which enabled us to say you have to play this, but that when Narnia was moved to February and Cliff Booth came on the calendar, it was kind of late in the game and Hunger Games was already scheduled to be released right before Cliff Booth.

So we and Netflix agreed that we were not going to use our programming language because we wanted to be user friendly, given the last minute nature to our exhibition partners. So we gave them the option of whether to play it or not. Now frankly, I don’t understand why anybody wouldn’t play it because if you’re a circuit that has hundreds or thousands of screens, you could play Hunger Games on lots of screens and you could play Cliff Booth on your Imax screen and it’s a win, win.

But I think some exhibitors, you know, we’re kind of standing on ceremony and saying we don’t like the Netflix window around it. You know, I personally think that’s a battle that’s already been fought. And by the way, a lot of the exhibitors played Demon Hunters and did very well. And that was after it came out on Netflix. So the answer is they have that flexibility if they want to use it, you know, fine. And frankly what I’m hoping and I saw 17 minutes of Cliff Booth and if you like Tarantino and you like Brad Pitt and you like David Fincher and who doesn’t, you know, that’s going to be a surprisingly successful run.

And I think the exhibitors who made a different choice and I hope and I think by the way that Hunger Games is going to be really strong. The pre sales on Hunger Games are very good, you know, but I think they could have played both. I don’t understand it, but that’s probably more than you wanted, David.

David Karnofsky (Analyst)

Thanks Rich. That was helpful.

OPERATOR

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Stephen Lashick from GS Steven, your line is now open.

Stephen Lashick (Analyst)

Great, thanks for taking the question, Natasha, on the theme of network expansion. Would just be curious to get your latest thoughts on how you’re thinking about the preferred way to finance network expansion. If there’s been a change in thinking around sales type or maybe the opportunity to lean into JRSAs and if the momentum in the Imax box that you’ve seen over the last quarter or so maybe changes the calculus around the return opportunities there.

Natasha Fernandez (Chief Financial Officer)

Yeah, I think there’s a really big opportunity before us. I mean, we have a very strong balance sheet. Our liquidity is 640 million. There’s a lot of opportunity there. And I think the one thing that we want to make sure is that we are being as helpful as possible so that we can expand our network at a faster pace, especially when it comes to JVs. Because as you saw, we can have a. We think about our incrementality when it comes down to the JV network.

That incrementality can go all the way up to 100% flow through from the 85. And that simply just comes from the fact of our costs are fixed and there is no ebbs and flows on those costs. So we saw that happen in Q3 where our JV incrementality was at like right up to 100%. And so I think we have that opportunity to keep putting our capital at the area where it can work and expand our network from a JV perspective. But even on the sales side, I think we’re seeing a lot of good activity. I mean, you heard an update in my remarks that we’re at, we have installed, or we’re installing right now, up to 125 systems. We’re well on our way and in our normal cadence of installations to get within our guidance range.

And what’s great is it’s a year when a lot of theaters didn’t want to close down to do upgrades or even adjust and put in a new screen and take out some other technology because there were some really good box office coming through in Q3 between Spider man and Odyssey Resident Evil as well. And so I think the fact that we continue to install at this cadence shows the strength of the Imax platform and the experience that consumers are demanding as well.

Stephen Lashick (Analyst)

Great. Thank you.

OPERATOR

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Steven Frankel from Rosenblatt Securities. Steven, your line is now open.

Steven Frankel (Analyst at Rosenblatt Securities)

Good morning and thank you. Kind of following up on the last question, Natasha. How much leverage do you have as you go to new partners to get more economics out of these JVs? If you raise the Bar on what you’re demanding as a rev share.

Natasha Fernandez (Chief Financial Officer)

I think the opportunity for us, Steve, is not to continue to push our exhibitor partners into an area where they are still, while they had a great Q3 box office worldwide, is still not up. And I think we are continuing to take a lot of share, and we’re having another record financial year, and we expect we’ll continue to grow from a business perspective. But I think part of it is being good partners as well. And the fact that we get revenue from both the studio and the exhibitor on our films is where we have the model set up properly.

And really looking at the way that we can use our platform in the right way. And I think part of that comes down to where, yes, we’re negotiating, and I think where we give that construction cost or the lease incentives to our exhibitors, that’s where we have an opportunity to definitely have a conversation about what the take rates are, because we’re giving more. But I think part of it just comes down to taking more market share means we’re getting more revenue in the end.

Right. And then being a good partner of keeping reasonable rates makes us grow our platform even larger, too. So I think part of it is just thinking through what are the puts and takes we want in a negotiation, because in the end, our goal would be to grow the platform overall and be able to capture our revenue and our incrementality through the model in that fashion.

Steven Frankel (Analyst at Rosenblatt Securities)

Great. I really appreciate your perspective and congratulations again on a fantastic quarter.

Natasha Fernandez (Chief Financial Officer)

Thanks, Steve.

OPERATOR

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Omar Mejias from Wells Fargo. Omar, your line is now open.

Omar Mejias (Analyst)

Good morning and thanks for the question, Rich. The Odyssey showed demand for Imax showtimes far exceeded supply with sellouts months in advance, and tickets resold well above face value. And I think you’ve noted before that exhibitors have been conservative on pricing. Is that changing through tiered or dynamic pricing for 70 millimeter and peak showtime? Just curious, and I know you touched on this in your prepared remarks, but just curious if this momentum is accelerating and what’s the overall opportunity on this front?

Richard L Gelfond (Chief Executive Officer)

Yeah. Thanks, Omar. Yeah, I think it is changing. There’s a theater chain in Las Vegas called Brendan Theaters run by a guy named Johnny Brendan, and he charged $50 for every seat for Odyssey, and he was virtually sold out. So there just didn’t seem to be a lot of resistance to that pricing. AMC originally included Odyssey and 70 millimeter through its Stubs ticketing platform. So you had, like, matinee shows on Tuesdays where you could buy tickets for $15 and those tickets, as you know, were resold for up to $1,000.

So we’ve deliberately communicated. Obviously the exhibitors set the prices, not us. But we’ve shared that data with a lot of people and we continue, we will continue to do that. But I think that’s just an obvious opportunity. And even dynamic pricing, which you look at, is used so successfully in other businesses like airlines or Broadway shows or whatever. And we’re going to put the facts out there and we hope that people understand they have more pricing power.

Omar Mejias (Analyst)

That’s very helpful. And maybe my follow-up, going back to the China minority buyout, will you consider revisiting this? With Imax China still trading below your 2023 offer and cash building it looks more attractive today than it did then. So just wanted to. And obviously I think you touched on this with David’s question on the strength of China and how that’s changing throughout the year. So just curious if you consider revisiting this. Any help on this would be great.

Richard L Gelfond (Chief Executive Officer)

Yeah, I think we said, Omar, when we, you know, looked at doing this a number of years ago, that we would keep considering it based on market conditions, cash build-up, stock price, performance. And I think, you know, that answer is still an accurate answer. So I think we’ll just monitor it and then we’ll figure out whether it makes sense or not.

Omar Mejias (Analyst)

Thank you.

OPERATOR

Thank you. This concludes the question and answer session. I would now like to turn it back to CEO Rich Gelfond for closing remarks.

Richard L Gelfond (Chief Executive Officer)

Thanks, operator. You know, many of you have been long term shareholders, others are newer to the story, but we’ve been talking for years using the terms the power of the platform. And what that means is it’s certainly not a weekend’s box office. It’s over time how it generates earnings revenue from multiple sources. And this quarter just demonstrated that in such a beautiful way. I mean, box office was obviously very high. Signings are going extremely well.

Our backlog is high. Next year’s slate, even though there’s still a lot of time, is looking really good. And I just think, you know, I don’t want to say this because it’s a jinx, but if you wished for a quarter to demonstrate the power of our platform and the leverage in our financial model, and you said these are the inputs, how’s it going to come out? And this is no disrespect to any of you on the phone, as a matter of fact, to the contrary, because it’s your job to uncover the story I must have been asked and Natasha 10,000 times to find the holes in our financial model when the leverage came together, how we would deliver or not.

And I’ve got to say, just look at this quarter and you’ve got a blueprint for a fantastic model and a terrific business going forward. And really grateful for those of you who have supported us for a long period of time. And I think it’s really early in the game. I think we’re just seeing the beginning. And with that, I thank all of you.

OPERATOR

Thank you for your participation in today’s conference. This does conclude the program, and you may now disconnect.

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