IMAX China on Wednesday reported a half-year 2021 Greater China revenue of $53.4 million, up from $6.7 million a year ago, driven by strong year-on-year box office recovery and increased installation activities. Adjusted net profit reached $21.3 million, compared to a $15.5 million net loss in the first-half of 2020 due to the COVID-19. 

"Our strong first-half revenue and earnings rebound to levels approaching that of 2019 underscores the rising value of IMAX to Chinese consumers, filmmakers and exhibitors," said Richard Gelfond, CEO of IMAX Corp. and the chairman of IMAX China. "A year into reopening, we are pleased to see the accelerating shift to theatrical blockbusters and increasing involvement of IMAX DNA in content production has further strengthened IMAX China's positioning in the post-pandemic entertainment ecosystem."

"Our record local language box office demonstrates our opportunity to gain further market share as local content gravitates towards high production value genres. We look forward to building on the momentum as we capitalize on a strong pipeline of blockbusters, both Hollywood and local language, for the rest of the year and into 2022," Gelfond added. 

Edwin Tan, CEO of IMAX China said: "We started off 2021 on a strong note with record-breaking New Year's Day and Chinese New Year opening weekend box office, and continued network growth and expansion in new theater signings."

It's worth noting that the box office gross for the IMAX version of Chinese blockbusters totaled $68 million, a record high, thanks to Chinese box office juggernauts such as "Detective Chinatown 3" and "A Writer's Odyssey" released earlier this year.

An optimistic Tan continued: "IMAX China has become the go-to entertainment choice as consumers increasingly seek premium experience and exhibitors look to differentiate their offerings. Our growing indexing across both Hollywood and local language blockbusters gives us greater confidence in our continued market share gain as major Hollywood tentpoles return to theaters starting second-half of the year."

IMAX China delivered further network expansion with a total of 759 systems in the IMAX theatre network in Greater China as of June 30, 2021, of which 384 operate under full revenue sharing arrangements, 108 under hybrid revenue sharing arrangements and 267 operate sales arrangements. 

The company installed 23 new and upgraded theater systems during first-half 2021, compared to three installations in the first-half of 2020. It signed agreements for 12 theater systems during the first-half of 2021, bringing a total backlog to 237 systems as of June 30, 2021. The Greater China contracted network reached close to a 1,000-theater milestone. 

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