Bright Nights for IMAX and the Dark Knight

While it's true the movie summer session has already produced incredible box office successes with Iron Man and Indiana Jones, the epitome of cinema-fare is yet to come, in the shape of the cape and cowl. By all early accounts Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight (the sequel to the excellent Batman Begins film) is surpassing even its most lofty cinematic expectations.

Oscar talk for a comic book movie? This genre of filmdom typically rates from the very good (X-Men 2, Spider Man 2, Begins, Iron Man...) to the downright awful (Elektra, Daredevil, Spiderman 3...), but for a movie about a man dressed in a bat costume fighting a villain based on a playing card to be compared with the greatest sequels in film history, that is something else. If it is said with realistic ambitions of a Best Picture Oscar nod, this is not only chilling, but deserves the general movie goer's full attention. From early reviews and viewings, Nolan created a masterpiece with this Batman film, and Heath Ledger's Joker portrayal will be talked about for a generation and then some. Sadly the actor will be unable to reap the praises bestowed upon him as his death months ago from an accidental overdose shocked the entertainment community.

Box Office predictions are enormous for this movie, even more so than Indiana Jones, and with the latter now crossing the $300Million mark domestically and nearing $800Million worldwide, The Dark Knight seems as sure of a thing as there is in this world for a bona-fide hit movie.

The trade here however, is not Time Warner (TWX), the parent of Warner Bros., the studio producing the movie. The trade is IMAX (IMAX). The company whose theater screens fill entire rooms and have sound systems that come as close as any to the ever-lustful "ultimate experience". IMAX is a much smaller company, compared to the giant TWX, $115Million in Revenue in 2007, and therefore can be pushed significantly higher by the success of a single movie.

And yes, studios have released movies on IMAX screens before, why is this different? What makes The Dark Knight bigger and better than any other blockbuster brought to IMAX?

First, it is different because IMAX has more screens now than ever before, and the company, after a rough patch involving some restatements, seems to be back on track to profitability.

Secondly, The Dark Knight is the first major studio blockbuster to have entire sequences shot with IMAX cameras. Reviews and praise for the film thus far revolve around a few common threads. One, is the sheer film-making achievement that is delivered with this movie. Two, is the incredible performance of Ledger as The Joker. Three, You have to see this film in IMAX!

If that's not enough to drive additional incremental business to IMAX, I'm not sure what is. Shooting movies with IMAX cameras has thus far been reserved to documentary, or special nature-based ilk, as the film is a different size, costs more to use and can only be processed by a specialist laboratory. The final product however, is nothing short of spectacular.

Judging by initial critical praise and the overwhelming response to the IMAX version of the film, it is likely that Dark Knight in IMAX showings will be sold out for several weeks. Shooting a movie of this size, with such a public following in IMAX film with IMAX cameras is not simply an anomaly, but is trailblazing and trend-setting. IMAX shareholders can only hope that The Dark Knight's success with the IMAX experience will encourage movie studios to try the format in more feature films, driving an unheard of growth cycle for the company. For now though, it all hinges on Batman, and by all accounts, his cape will shroud the entire domestic box office starting July 18th.

With markets sputtering, and catalysts few and far between, IMAX has an enormous catalyst, a beacon of hope for short term gains, as Batman's epic clash with The Joker unfolds on screen, within the IMAX experience.

Disclosure: Author owns IMAX

Comments

[richie thediver]

Did the author forget the the re-made Superman was released on IMAX as well?

[swimjames]

a beacon of hope for short term gains- key word here SHORT term gains, good luck traders! Even in the better economy of 2004-5 Imax shares languished...

[krasowskic]

Richie,

I've made the comment that "And yes, studios have released movies on IMAX screens before, why is this different?" within the article to specifically address that point.

Movies have been blown up to be shown on the IMAX screen before, some very successfully, but never has a big commercial movie filmed sequences with IMAX cameras. This is a big deal.

Furthermore, the movie's premier on July 14th will be at an IMAX theatre, saying to the movie that this film needs to be seen the way it was intended.
IMAX also just sent out a press release that this is the biggest pre-order ticket seller for the theatre chain ever, and it will be released on a record 94 screens domestically and another 15 internationally. All-time high numbers for showings of a single film.

I'd say that's different than the previously re-made Superman film.

Regards,
Chris

[krasowskic]

Just to clarify, the article was originally written here wcpowertechfund.blogsp... on July 7th, with IMAX hovering in the $6.30s.

While the 5% move upwards, even during the market's recent sell-off has been welcomed, I still see some upside past $7 when the momentum of opening weekend results arrive for The Dark Knight.

[Celal]

1)94domestic/15 international screens is not really enough in the grand scheme of things to make a big splash
2) Even if the film is a box office success (still remains to be seen). how much will IMAX as the technology provider really benefit from it ? How much is it really going to add to it's bottom line ? Techies are normally just bought and paid for. It's the creative talent that gets the big money (i.e royalties) in show business.
3) Right now the only thing IMAX has going for it (and it is no small thing) is brand recognition in the field of 3D cinema. When 3D cinema does take off it should be right there reaping the main benefits but not yet.

[sjl270]

Some of these commments are pretty short-sighted (not the author's)... IMAX will benefit from demand for their proprietary technology. They control everything from the films/cameras to the actual installation of their movie theatres. w/ such a small number of installed theatre base, and huge demand, IMAX has enormous room for improvement. It's not a matter of how much Batman will add to IMAX's bottom line, but how much MORE BUSINESS will it generate for IMAX? and a successful Batman will generate more contracts with more movie theatres. So far AMC is the only giant contract out there (100 theatres)... The continued success of movies in IMAX will prompt other chains to sign bigger contracts before they miss out on the next biggest thing in the movie industry.

ALSO: FYI, Superman did not flop - at the time of its release, it smashed every IMAX box office record w/ $6.3MM in ticket sales. That's an $89,804 per screen average for IMAX theatres versus an ~$26,000 per screen average for the average theatre.