Imax Corp (IMAX)

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The Hunger Games: Catching Fire(TM) Blazes Trails In IMAX(R) With Estimated $18 Million Worldwide In Opening Weekend

Nov 25, 2013 07:30:00 (ET)

IMAX Has Its Best Three-Day November Opening In Debut Across 347 North American IMAX(R) Theatres, Earning $12.6 Million Domestically

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- IMAX Corporation (NYSE: IMAX; TSX: IMX) and Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF) announced today that The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, the second film in the blockbuster Hunger Games franchise, has grossed approximately $18 million in IMAX theatres worldwide and $12.6 million in 347 IMAX(R) theatres in North America since its release Friday, Nov. 22, resulting in a domestic per-screen average of approximately $36,300. That is the best three-day domestic opening for November in IMAX history, topping the previous record set by Sony's Skyfall in November 2012.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20111107/MM01969LOGO)

For the weekend, eight of the top 10 domestic runs for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire were IMAX engagements.

Internationally, the film delivered a robust $5.4 million in multiple IMAX territories, including standout performances in the Netherlands ($73,000 per-screen average), Australia ($63,000) and the United Kingdom ($51,000). Overall, the film has grossed an estimated $307.7 million through Sunday for Lionsgate worldwide and an estimated $161.125 million in its opening weekend domestically.

The film led the entire IMAX network to its second best overall weekend ever with total worldwide grosses for IMAX reaching $25.7 million.

"We're excited that fans are seeking out the IMAX format in record numbers as the ideal way to experience The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," said Greg Foster, CEO of IMAX Entertainment and Senior Executive Vice President, IMAX Corp. "I want to congratulate and thank our partners -- producers Nina Jacobson and Jon Kilik, director Francis Lawrence, and Lionsgate -- who realized the full potential of IMAX by using our capture technology in the arena sequences and proved once again that the Hunger Games series is a world-class franchise. Given the film's 'A' Cinemascore and the use of IMAX differentiation, not to mention the Thanksgiving holiday in front of us, we're optimistic about the film's long-term prospects."

Helping to further eventize this cultural phenomenon and transport moviegoers into the world of Panem, director Francis Lawrence used IMAX's extremely high-resolution cameras to film portions of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Exclusively in IMAX(R) theatres, when Katniss enters the arena the image will expand to fill the IMAX screen for the entire arena sequence with unprecedented crispness and clarity, putting moviegoers right into the action alongside Katniss and her fellow Tributes.

The IMAX release of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire has been digitally re-mastered into the image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience(R) with proprietary IMAX DMR(R) (Digital Re-mastering) technology. The crystal-clear images, coupled with IMAX's customized theatre geometry and powerful digital audio, create a unique environment that will make audiences feel as if they are in the movie.

About THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire begins as Katniss Everdeen (played by Jennifer Lawrence) has returned home safe after winning the 74th Annual Hunger Games along with fellow tribute Peeta Mellark (played by Josh Hutcherson). Winning means that they must turn around and leave their family and close friends, embarking on a "Victor's Tour" of the districts. Along the way Katniss senses that a rebellion is simmering, but the Capitol is still very much in control as President Snow prepares the 75th Annual Hunger Games (The Quarter Quell) - a competition that could change Panem forever. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is directed by Francis Lawrence, and produced by Nina Jacobson's Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. The novel on which the film is based is the second in a trilogy written by Suzanne Collins that has over 65 million copies in print in the U.S. alone.

You can learn more about The Hunger Games: Catching Fire by visiting Lionsgate's official site at http://www.thehungergamesexplorer.com/us/

About Lionsgate

Lionsgate is a leading global entertainment company with a strong and diversified presence in motion picture production and distribution, television programming and syndication, home entertainment, family entertainment, digital distribution, new channel platforms and international distribution and sales. Lionsgate currently has 30 television shows on 20 different networks spanning its primetime production, distribution and syndication businesses, including such critically-acclaimed hits as the multiple Emmy Award-winning Mad Men and Nurse Jackie, the comedy Anger Management, the network series Nashville, the syndication success The Wendy Williams Show and the critically-acclaimed new series Orange Is The New Black.

Its feature film business has been fueled by such recent successes as the blockbuster first and second installments of The Hunger Games franchise, The Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn -- Part 2, Now You See Me, Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain, Warm Bodies, Snitch, Texas Chainsaw 3D, The Expendables 2, The Possession, Sinister, Arbitrage and Pantelion Films' breakout hit Instructions Not Included, the highest-grossing Spanish-language film ever in the U.S.

Lionsgate's home entertainment business is an industry leader in box office-to-DVD and box office-to-VOD revenue conversion rate. Lionsgate handles a prestigious and prolific library of approximately 15,000 motion picture and television titles that is an important source of recurring revenue and serves as the foundation for the growth of the Company's core businesses. The Lionsgate and Summit brands remain synonymous with original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the world.

www.lionsgate.com

About IMAX Corporation

IMAX, an innovator in entertainment technology, combines proprietary software, architecture and equipment to create experiences that take you beyond the edge of your seat to a world you've never imagined. Top filmmakers and studios are utilizing IMAX theatres to connect with audiences in extraordinary ways, and, as such, IMAX's network is among the most important and successful theatrical distribution platforms for major event films around the globe.

IMAX is headquartered in New York, Toronto and Los Angeles, with offices in London, Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing. As of September 30, 2013, there were 785 IMAX theatres (653 commercial multiplexes, 19 commercial destinations and 113 institutions) in 55 countries.

IMAX(R), IMAX(R) 3D, IMAX DMR(R), Experience It In IMAX(R), An IMAX 3D Experience(R), The IMAX Experience(R) and IMAX Is Believing(R) are trademarks of IMAX Corporation. More information about the Company can be found at www.imax.com. You may also connect with IMAX on Facebook (www.facebook.com/imax), Twitter (www.twitter.com/imax) and YouTube (www.youtube.com/imaxmovies).

This press release contains forward looking statements that are based on IMAX management's assumptions and existing information and involve certain risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. These risks and uncertainties are discussed in IMAX's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and most recent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

For additional information please contact:


Media: Investors:
IMAX Corporation - New York IMAX Corporation -- New York
Ann Sommerlath Teri Loxam
212-821-0155 212-821-0110
[e-mail] [e-mail]

Entertainment Media: Business Media:
Principal Communications Group - Los Angeles Sloane & Company -- New York
Melissa Zukerman/Paul Pflug Whit Clay
323-658-1555 212-446-1864
[e-mail] [e-mail]
[e-mail]

For Lionsgate:
Principal Communications Group - Los Angeles
Hans-Dieter Kopal
323-658-1555
[e-mail]
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SOURCE IMAX Corporation

/Web site: http://www.imax.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 25, 2013 07:30 ET (12:30 GMT)