Watchmen: The IMAX experience posts strong opening box office results at IMAX(R) theatres

Watchmen: The IMAX experience posts strong opening box office results at IMAX(R) theatres

Highlights include: - Worldwide IMAX box office totals $6.2 million - Second largest domestic IMAX opening at $5.4 million - Domestic IMAX per screen average of $43,863

LOS ANGELES, March 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Warner Bros. Pictures, Paramount Pictures International, Legendary Pictures and IMAX Corporation (NASDAQ: IMAX; TSX: IMX) today announced that Watchmen, Zack Snyder's latest box office hit based on the popular graphic novel, posted strong opening box office results at IMAX(R) theatres during its debut. The IMAX release contributed $5.4 million of the $55 million that the film grossed at the domestic box office, on a total of 124 North American IMAX screens this weekend. The picture posted a domestic IMAX per screen average of $43,863. Internationally, the picture generated an estimated $727,000 from 29 IMAX screens. The film's worldwide IMAX opening total was $6.2 million.

Watchmen: The IMAX Experience was digitally re-mastered into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience(R) with proprietary IMAX DMR(R) (Digital Re-mastering) technology. The film will continue to play in IMAX theatres for another three weeks.

"We're very happy with the overall performance of the film, and the strong IMAX results show that the IMAX brand is clearly resonating with Watchmen fans," said Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution at Warner Bros. Pictures.

Andrew Cripps, President of Paramount Pictures International added, "The international IMAX network played an important role in generating excitement surrounding the release, and these first-weekend results show the value of the IMAX Experience with fans of Watchmen. We look forward to the weeks ahead as we continue to offer moviegoers the chance to experience it in IMAX."

Internationally, many theatres were sold out over the weekend and results were particularly strong in England and Taiwan.The new Odeon IMAX cinemas in Greenwich and Wimbledon posted their best weekends since opening recently, and London's BFI IMAX theatre sold more than 20,000 advance tickets. In Taipei, the IMAX theatre sold out numerous shows all weekend.

"The Watchmen buzz was incredible at IMAX theatres this weekend, and we're delighted to see the film deliver strong performance across the IMAX network globally," said IMAX Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs Richard L. Gelfond and Bradley J. Wechsler. "We began the rollout of our digital projection system with the intention of growing our audience and increasing the number of event movies in the IMAX film slate, and these results show that both domestic and international markets are responding very well to the combination of this type of movie and The IMAX Experience."

"We're pleased the film is s resonating with fans of Watchmen in IMAX theatres around the world," said Greg Foster, Chairman and President of IMAX Filmed Entertainment. "The IMAX results alone would have ranked as the fifth highest-grossing movie of the weekend on just 124 screens. This movie kicks off our exciting film slate for 2009 and demonstrates that IMAX theatres are often the cinema of choice for the tech-savvy demographic, regardless of the presentation being in 2D or 3D."

Watchmen was originally published by DC Comics as a 12-comic book series between 1986 and 1987, before subsequently being collected into a trade paperback. It is the only graphic novel to win the prestigious Hugo Award or to be named among TIME magazine's "100 Best English Language Novels from 1923 to the Present." The film is directed by Snyder and produced by Lawrence Gordon (Die Hard), Lloyd Levin (United 93) and Deborah Snyder (300), with Herbert W. Gains serving as executive producer.

About IMAX Corporation

IMAX Corporation is one of the world's leading entertainment technology companies, specializing in immersive motion picture technologies. The worldwide IMAX network is among the most important and successful theatrical distribution platforms for major event Hollywood films around the globe, with IMAX theatres delivering the world's best movie presentations using proprietary IMAX, IMAX(R) 3D, and IMAX DMR technology. IMAX DMR is the Company's groundbreaking digital re-mastering technology that allows it to digitally transform virtually any conventional motion picture into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience. IMAX's renowned projectors display crystal-clear images on the world's biggest screens, and the IMAX brand is recognized throughout the world for extraordinary and immersive entertainment experiences for consumers. As of September 30, 2008, there were 320 IMAX theatres operating in 42 countries.

IMAX(R), IMAX(R) 3D, IMAX DMR(R), The IMAX 3D Experience(R), and The IMAX Experience(R) are trademarks of IMAX Corporation. More information on the Company can be found at www.imax.com.

This press release contains forward looking statements that are based on 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. Important factors that could affect these statements include ongoing discussions with the SEC and OSC relating to their ongoing inquiries and the Company's accounting, the performance of films, the signing of theatre system agreements, the viability of new technologies, businesses and products, the timing of theatre system deliveries, the mix of theatre systems shipped, the timing of the recognition of revenues and expenses on film production and distribution agreements, risks arising from potential material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting and fluctuations in foreign currency and in the large format, general commercial exhibition and out-of-home entertainment markets. These factors and other risks and uncertainties are discussed in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and most recent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

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Source: IMAX Corporation

CONTACT: Media: IMAX Corporation, New York, Sarah Gormley, (212)
821-0144, sgormley@imax.com; Entertainment Media: Rogers & Cowan, Los Angeles,
Jason Magner, (310) 854-8128, jmagner@rogersandcowan.com; Investors: IMAX
Corporation - New York, Heather Anthony, (212) 821-0121, hanthony@imax.com;
Business Media: Sloane & Company, New York, Whit Clay, (212) 446-1864,
wclay@sloanepr.com

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Profile: International Entertainment