Ahead of Pathaan’s release, IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond reveals Avatar: The Way Of Water collected Rs. 32.65 crores from just 23 IMAX screens in India; RRR is one of the significant films that increased global IMAX revenue from local language movies

The concept of IMAX screens arrived in India around 20 years ago and since the last decade, it has caught on with moviegoers in a big way. It became indispensable for many to watch big-scale films in IMAX screens as it gave an incredible experience with its sound system and wall-to-wall gigantic screen. Avatar: The Way Of Water (2022), which was recently released, did very well in IMAX theatres, as expected. And recently, IMAX Corporation CEO Richard Gelfond, who was on his fourth trip to India, shared some interesting details and stats.

 

Ahead of Pathaan’s release, IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond reveals Avatar: The Way Of Water collected Rs. 32.65 crores from just 23 IMAX screens in India; RRR is one of the significant films that increased global IMAX revenue from local language movies

 

During an interaction with The Economic Times, he said that the box office collections in IMAX theatres in India have gone up by 41% in 2022 compared to 2019. He also said that Avatar: The Way Of Water is IMAX’s highest-grossing movie in India. It has earned $4 million, that is, a mind-boggling Rs. 32.65 crores in IMAX screens in India. Its box office collections till date have been nearly Rs. 368 crores in India. This means that around 10% of Avatar: The Way Of Water’s earnings came from just 23 screens of IMAX in India. Richard Gelfond also revealed that on average, each IMAX screen in the country in India earned around $900,000 (Rs. 7.34 crores) of revenue in 2022.

 

He then opened up about his expansion plans and that he has set a 100-screen target for India. With 23 screens open, the IMAX group is all set to open 19 more screens soon, six of which will commence operations in 2023 itself, with the eventual plans of having 100 IMAX screens in the next five years. He also compared the scenario with China, where there are 800 IMAX screens with another 200 in the backlog and remarked that “India is hugely under screened. It has a long way to go.”

 

Until now, the strategy has been to convert a normal multiplex screen into an IMAX one in existing multiplexes or reserve one for IMAX in upcoming multiplexes. But there’ll be a change in plans as Richard Gelfond wants to partner with single-screen cinemas and convert their properties into IMAX.

 

 

Meanwhile, in an interaction with Mint, Richard Gelfond revealed that local language films are doing big business in IMAX and the numbers are getting better by the year. He admitted that in 2019, 2% of their box office earnings in India were from local content. But in 2022, it rose to 30%. In 2022, six Indian films were released in IMAX and the number will double to 12 or 13 in 2023, said Richard. He also credited S S Rajamouli’s RRR (2022) as among the significant films that helped in increasing the global IMAX revenue from local language movies.

 

Lastly, the first IMAX release for Bollywood is Pathaan. It is all set to release tomorrow, January 25, 2023, and is expected to do big business in IMAX, as evident by the strong ticket sales. Adipurush, starring Prabhas, will also have a release in IMAX, on June 16, 2023. Last year, Ponniyin Selvan - Part 1 (2022) had a release in the IMAX version. Its sequel, which will be out on April 28 this year, will also get a release in the format, reportedly.

 

Also Read: Shah Rukh Khan fans from Tamil Nadu install a giant cut out of Pathaan star outside a theatre to celebrate his return

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