Category Archives: IMAX

IMAX Had Its Biggest Year Ever… and the Movies Driving It Might Surprise You

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Avatar: Fire and Ash
20th Century Studios

IMAX closed out 2025 with the strongest box office performance in its history, pulling in a record $1.28 billion globally. That’s a 40 percent jump over 2024 and even higher than the company’s pre-pandemic peak in 2019, a notable milestone at a time when the broader theatrical business is still finding its footing.

What stands out isn’t just the total, but where the money came from. IMAX’s top-grossing films of the year weren’t dominated by traditional Hollywood blockbusters alone. The biggest title on IMAX screens was Ne Zha 2, a Chinese animated epic that barely registered in North America but became a massive global hit. It was followed by Avatar: Fire and Ash, F1: The Movie from Apple, the anime phenomenon Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.

That mix tells a bigger story about how IMAX is positioning itself. The company’s growth is increasingly tied to international audiences, anime fans, and filmmakers who deliberately shoot with IMAX cameras, not just tentpole franchises aimed at U.S. multiplexes. In fact, local-language films accounted for more than $400 million of IMAX’s box office in 2025, a record for the format.
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Christopher Nolan Unveils First Trailer for Epic Adaptation of The Odyssey

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the-odysseyUniversal Pictures has released the first trailer for The Odyssey, Christopher Nolan’s epic adaptation of Homer’s ancient Greek poem. The film stars Matt Damon as Odysseus, the King of Ithaca, on his perilous journey home following the Trojan War.

The teaser offers glimpses of large-scale sea voyages, shipwrecks, and the famed Trojan Horse, while hinting at the mythic dangers Odysseus will face, including legendary monsters and supernatural forces.

The footage also introduces Tom Holland as Telemachus and Anne Hathaway as Penelope, Odysseus’ wife, whose plea for his return frames the trailer’s emotional core.

The cast includes Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Charlize Theron, Mia Goth, Benny Safdie, Jon Bernthal, and John Leguizamo. Nolan wrote and directed the film, producing alongside Emma Thomas, and shot the project using newly developed IMAX film technology to stage the story on an epic scale. The Odyssey is scheduled for theatrical release on July 17, 2026.

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Spinal Tap II: The End Continues to Screen in IMAX for One Week Only

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spinal-tap-IISpinal Tap II: The End Continues will screen in IMAX theaters for a limited one-week engagement beginning September 10, 2025. The early IMAX showing takes place on September 10 with additional screenings on September 12.

The sequel arrives more than four decades after Rob Reiner’s This Is Spinal Tap. Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer return as David St. Hubbins, Nigel Tufnel, and Derek Smalls, aging rockers reunited for one final concert. Reiner also reprises his role as Marty Di Bergi, the filmmaker chronicling their attempt at a comeback. The film features appearances by Elton John, Paul McCartney, Questlove, and Fran Drescher.

Exclusive merchandise will be available for the release, including a limited Spinal Tap II x IMAX T-shirt sold through the IMAX online store.

Distributed by Bleecker Street, Spinal Tap II blends satire and nostalgia, continuing the story of one of cinema’s most enduring mockumentary bands.

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Grateful Dead Movie to Screen in IMAX for One-Night Early Access Event

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IMAX Presents: The Grateful Dead Movie 2025
TIFF

The Grateful Dead Movie will return to theaters this summer as part of the 2025 edition of “Meet-Up At The Movies,” with early screenings in IMAX on August 13 and a general release on August 14.

Originally released in 1977 and co-directed by Jerry Garcia and Leon Gast, the film documents the band’s five-night run at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom in 1974. It includes live performances, behind-the-scenes footage, animation, and rare moments focused on the Grateful Dead’s devoted fan base.

This marks the first time the film will be presented in IMAX, with newly remastered sound and picture. An exclusive bonus performance of “China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider” will be shown in theaters following the film.

The Grateful Dead Movie is presented by Rhino Entertainment and Trafalgar Releasing.

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IMAX To Present NBC’s Live Coverage Of The Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony

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NBC Universal

The NBC television network will extend its live coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony to IMAX locations nationwide on Friday, July 26 — the first time ever the global event will be presented live in IMAX, it was announced this week.

The plans for the Opening Ceremony are unlike any other. The first-ever Summer Olympic opening ceremony not held in a stadium, the organizers are turning one of the world’s most famous waterways, the River Seine, into the world’s biggest theatrical stage. Instead of walking into a stadium, a four-mile-long flotilla of nearly 100 boats will carry thousands of athletes from more than 200 countries past hundreds of thousands of spectators seated on the banks of the Seine.

The river parade will follow the course of the Seine past the iconic sites of Paris, from Austerlitz Bridge, beside the Jardin des Plantes, crossing through central Paris and finishing in front of the Trocadéro, where the final elements of the show and ceremony will take place.
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IMAX And Oscar-Nominated Filmmker Nathaniel Kahn Join Forces On “Deep Sky”, A Documentary On NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope

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IMAX Corporation (NYSE: IMAX) and Crazy Boat Pictures Ltd., together with Oscar®-nominated filmmaker Nathaniel Kahn, today announced that they’ve completed production on “Deep Sky”, a new documentary on NASA’s Webb Telescope (JWST). The 40-minute short film is narrated by Oscar®-nominated actress Michelle Williams, and is currently slated for release across IMAX’s institutional theater network in October 2023.

This announcement was made today at the National Academy of Science in Washington, D.C., as part of the one-year anniversary of the release of the first images from JWST.

“‘Deep Sky’ represents an exciting return to form for IMAX Documentaries and our long tradition of immersive space films,” said John Turner, Head of Documentaries for IMAX. “Nathaniel Kahn’s Oscar-nominated documentary ‘My Architect’ is iconic and his Emmy-winning ‘The Hunt for Planet B’ served as the fascinating first step in telling the story of the people who built this telescope. Now we get to see the breathtaking images brought to life in a way that no one has ever seen before.”
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