IMAX CEO Expects the Movie Industry to Roar Back

According to the head of IMAX, Richard Gelfond, the movie industry will come back like the “roaring twenties.”

Speaking to Yahoo Finance Live, the CEO has said that with the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, he is optimistic that the movie industry will be bouncing back by summer time.

In 2020 box office sales globally plummeted 71% according to Comscore as coronavirus restrictions kept people from visiting the theaters.

“There’s a lot of terrific movies, almost an embarrassment of riches, because a lot of [films] have moved forward from ’20 to ’21,” said Gelfond. “I think by the end of the year, we’re going to see an industry that resembles the one we saw in ’19.” 2019 had been a record box-office year.

According to Gelfond, post-pandemic, movie chains will be focused on blockbusters such as “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Black Widow,” and “Fast & Furious 9,” all of which had their planned 2020 releases pushed back to 2021.

“I think during the pandemic people have gotten used to streaming, and I think the economics of non-blockbuster movies make it feasible to do either a simultaneous release in theaters and online, as well as maybe just an online release. So I think for smaller movies and more niche movies, you’ll probably see more things online and less choices in the theater,” said Gelfond.

“But I think for blockbuster movies, if anything, I think it’ll be like the roaring ’20s,” he said. “People will be itching to get out of their homes, and they’re going to want to socialize with other people, and they’re going to want to enjoy event experiences like concerts and big movies with other people.”

“I think what we learned from the global box office is where places are open and people feel safe, they want to go to the theaters,” said Gelfond. “In China, a number of films this year became among the top 10 releases in Chinese history and there was still 75% capacity restriction.”

“In Japan, the largest movie in the history of Japan with capacity restrictions at 75% called ‘Demon Slayer’ came out,” said Gelfond. “So it seems like there’s an awful lot of pent-up demand, and people really want to get out and socialize where it’s safe to do so.”

Gelfond says IMAX was sitting on roughly $350 million in cash before the pandemic and
almost a year later, the chain is “cash-flow neutral” with over $300 million.

“Unlike other people in the industry, we’re positioned well because we’re global, and I think we did a lot of the right things really early,” said Gelfond.

IMAX operates its big screen movie chains in 82 countries.

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.