The Hollywood Reporter (Weekly)
THE CONTENDERS: RIVAL PREMIUM LARGE-FORMAT PLAYERS
In 2015, Imax had little competition. Now there are more than 1,000 premium large-format screens in North America, among them Cinemark Theatres’ XD, Regal Cinemas’ RDX and Canadian giant Cineplex’s UltraAVX.
The PLF slice of the openingweekend pie, including Imax, keeps getting bigger across all genres: Oppenheimer (48 percent), Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One (42 percent), Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (37 percent), Fast X (32 percent) and The Little Mermaid (26 percent). As a general rule, Imax still makes up about half the PLF pie, despite having less than half the overall screen count.
Dolby Cinema is praised for its proprietary projection system and sound, along with state-of-the art seating, but is exclusive to AMC in the United States. Since Imax had no room for Barbie, AMC offered exclusive runs. Dolby contributed a healthy 10 percent of the blockbuster’s $182 million opening.
Gelfond steers clear of assessing Dolby but isn’t impressed with the rest: “It’s not a coincidence that virtually every PLF has an ‘x’ in their name. It’s an exhibitor’s way of getting a higher ticket price. And a lot of the PLF business exists because Imax seats are sold out. The consumer believes they are a superior technical experience, but they aren’t. The screen is just larger.” Warner Bros. president of domestic distribution Jeff Goldstein is of a different mindset, noting, “What the audience is telling us loudly and clearly is they want all the screens to be premium, whether it’s Imax or private-label PLF or Dolby Cinema.”