Imax Stock Jumps 8% as The Odyssey Powers Record Box Office
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- Imax shares jumped more than 8% Thursday after the company reaffirmed its path to a record $1.4 billion in global box office for 2026, easing Wall Street fears that Netflix and Greta Gerwig's "Narnia: The Magician's Nephew" — pushed from November to February 2027 — would derail the guidance.
- "The Odyssey" generated $52 million in global Imax box office over its opening weekend, with Imax locations representing less than 1% of total screens but 20% of the film's worldwide debut.
- "The Odyssey's" Imax opening ran 47% higher than "Oppenheimer's," and the film added another $11 million Monday and $10.6 million Tuesday — Imax's best Tuesday ever, according to CEO Rich Gelfond.
- Gelfond told investors that presales for the Odyssey's second weekend alone "would qualify as one of our biggest opening weekends ever," calling the run "just getting warmed up."
- Imax installed 38 systems globally in Q2 (up from 36 a year earlier), the highest Q2 installations in a decade, and is on pace for 160-175 installations by year-end 2026.
- Imax holds a backlog of 421 contracts to build new screens, with a loaded 2026 pipeline ahead including Sony/Marvel's "Spider-Man: Brand New Day," Tom Cruise's "Digger," "Godzilla Minus Zero," David Fincher's "The Adventures of Cliff Booth," and Denis Villeneuve's "Dune: Part Three."
Why it matters: Imax reaffirmed its $1.4 billion 2026 box office target as the stock jumped 8%+, but the real runway is structural: 421 backlog contracts and 160-175 installations projected by year-end. The Odyssey is filling a Q4 revenue gap left by Narnia's February 2027 delay — without it, the guidance was at risk.
