IMAX To Open Four New Cinemas In Shanghai

IMAX IMAX has announced plans to open four new theaters in Shanghai.

What Happened: The company is working with its subsidiary IMAX China and the Chinese cinema chain Broadway Theatre Company Limited in developing the new venues in Shanghai’s downtown district, including a location at One East, the first flagship property managed and operated by Brookfield Properties LP BPY in Shanghai.

The new theaters signal an expansion of IMAX’s partnership with Broadway, which includes IMAX screens in eight of its top-performing Chinese cinemas.

Why It Matters: IMAX grossed $155 million since the Chinese government enabled the reopening of theaters last July, and IMAX China reported one million admissions during a single day during the recent Chinese New Year.

“Moviegoing has come roaring back post-pandemic in China, offering the world a glimpse of the pent-up consumer demand that awaits multiplexes worldwide,” observed IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond.

According to a news report in Variety, the Chinese government announced that nearly 6,000 new movie screens were added during 2020 — a remarkable feat considering the nation’s cinemas were closed between February and June due to the COVID-19 pandemic and at least 2,300 cinema complexes were permanently closed during the first two months of the health crisis, the equivalent of 12,000 screens.

China now has 75,581 screens nationwide at some 12,700 complexes, according to data from the National Office for Special Film Funds.

Variety also reported that China’s total box office in 2020 was $3.2 billion, down 68% from one year earlier, with the top grossing films made by the Chinese film industry. Foreign films accounted for only 16% of total national box office, or $512 million in 2020, with 45 of the top 100 grossing films arriving from overseas.

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(Photo: A scene from “The Eight Hundred,” China’s top grossing film of 2020 that played locally in IMAX theaters. Photo courtesy of Huayi Brothers.)