'Matrix' Buttresses Imax Hopes for Big Film Debuts

Imax Corp.'s opening week box office of just over $3 million for "The Matrix Revolutions" hit the top range of expectations and buttresses Imax's case for debuting major movies on its giant screens the same day as in traditional theaters, co-chief executive Rich Gelfond said on Monday.

"When we sat down and thought about how well the movie could do, this was certainly on the high end," Gelfond said. "For the last two years, we have been saying, 'wait until we open contemporaneously (with traditional theaters), then look at that"' box office result.

Gelfond told Reuters Imax is in currently talks with four major film studios for the same type of "day and date" debut as "Revolutions," a science fiction movie about humans led by their hero, Neo, battling for survival against machines.

The film debuted last week in 48 Imax theaters marking the first time a big-budget, franchise film has opened simultaneously on Imax and in traditional theaters.

Imax wants to entice studios to debut big budget films on Imax screens -- some of which can rise 8 stories high -- and in standard theaters the same day. Imax believes the promotional pull of the big films will bring more people to Imax theaters.

However various concerns, including some over cannibalizing normal ticket sales, have led to reluctance in Hollywood.

Last year, Imax was able to get older films like "Apollo 13," animated "The Lion King" and more currently "The Matrix Reloaded" in its theaters but only after debuting in traditional theaters. Still, they provide the only comparison.

"Reloaded" opened at Imax in June, two weeks after standard theaters. That weekend, it sold $903,000 of Imax tickets.

This past week, "Revolutions" took in an average $63,000 per Imax venue versus "The Lion King," which sold about $25,000 per Imax venue in its first weekend at Imax last December.

Gelfond said the Imax theaters were charging premium prices of about $2.50 more, on average, than standard theater tickets and still selling-out. In some cases, the prices rose as high as $15 per ticket in Imax.

"Our first look at the statistics shows very little cannibalization," he said.