IMAX Corporation (NYSE: IMAX) exploded to one of the Company’s biggest weekends ever at the global box office on the strength of Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer”, delivering a massive $35 million debut on only 740 screens worldwide. The stunning figure represented IMAX’s biggest share ever of a film’s global opening weekend box office with 20% of total receipts. Shot with IMAX Film Cameras, Universal Pictures’ “Oppenheimer” set several IMAX records at launch, including:
- Biggest July opening weekend ever, Global and Domestic
- Biggest opening weekend of 2023, Global and Domestic
- Biggest opening weekend ever for a Christopher Nolan film, Global and Domestic
“‘Oppenheimer’ is an undeniable demonstration of a paradigm shift in moviegoing, with IMAX taking a commanding share of global box office as audiences show a clear preference for experiences that transcend the ordinary in cinema,” said Rich Gelfond, CEO of IMAX. “As he has done throughout his career, Christopher Nolan pushed the boundaries of IMAX technology to deliver unforgettable storytelling with ‘Oppenheimer’ and audiences are responding in numbers we’ve not seen in our 50-year history.”
In North America, “Oppenheimer” opened to $21.1 million — an IMAX-record 26.2% of the Domestic box office from only 411 screens. The figure marked a whopping $51,000 per screen average for the film at IMAX locations in the United States and Canada.
Internationally, “Oppenheimer” opened to $13.9 million — 14.8% of the box office on only 329 screens. The performance was even more notable given several markets have yet to open the film, including China, South Korea, Italy, and Greece. Remarkably, “Oppenheimer” scored the biggest IMAX opening weekend ever in a diverse collection of markets including Mexico, India, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Chile, Colombia, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Czech Republic. Thirty-four international markets overall posted a top-five all-time IMAX opening weekend with the film.
“Given the strength of our pre-sales, the ‘A’ CinemaScore, and the historical multiples of Christopher Nolan’s films, we believe this is just the beginning of what ‘Oppenheimer’ can accomplish at the global box office,” Gelfond continued. “Around the world, we’ve seen sellouts at 4:00 a.m. shows and people travelling hours across borders to see ‘Oppenheimer’ in IMAX 70mm — this is a phenomenon beyond compare in IMAX and we’re just getting started.”
Written and directed by Christopher Nolan, “Oppenheimer” was shot in IMAX® 65mm and 65mm large-format film photography including, for the first time, portions in IMAX® black and white analogue photography. “Oppenheimer” will continue its three-week window run across the global IMAX network, both domestically and internationally.
“Oppenheimer” headlined a historic weekend for IMAX, with its global network scoring $46.4 million worldwide — the fourth best weekend box office ever for IMAX. In China, Maoyan’s “Creation of the Gods 1: Kingdom of Storms” debuted to $8.6 million in IMAX — an IMAX-record 16.6% of the debut for a local release and IMAX’s biggest ever summer opening weekend for a Chinese film.
