For more on the future of the movie business. I'm thrilled to say we're joined now by Richard Gelfon. He is the CEO of IMAX. It's great to see you in person.
Nice to see you. It's been a while, it has been.
And things have obviously changed in the last couple of years. So let's dive into this year's current box office because I was reading right now, we're down about twenty percent compared to last year. But then you take a look at IMAX's most recent earnings report, you beat expectations. Your shares are pretty much on par with the S and P five hundred this year. So I'm curious how you disconnect IMAX from just the general health of the box office.
Well, the simple answer is our earnings aren't really leverage to box office. The comps that she just went through are North American exhibitors. We're not North American and we're not an exhibitor, so we're global. Two thirds of our revenues are from outside of the United States. Our business models, we license our technology, We don't sell popcorn. We have very little to do with the kind of model that exhibitors are. And when you look at our sources of content.
They're very different. So over twenty percent of our revenues come from foreign language films. You know, the North American exhibitors are zero. You look at last year twenty twenty three, it was about equal to our best year ever, which is twenty nineteen, and exhibitors or twenty percent off that, and even our percentage of the box office. So she was talking about Memorial Day, we did over twenty percent of the global box office and even for Furiosa, and
even higher than that in North America. So we're not we you know, it's one of these things I was hearing this morning that somebody said you have to say something sixteen times before anybody pays attention, but I'll make it seventeen. You know, we're not an exhibitor. Our model is just very different, and I think post pandemic. Also, there's been this push to premium, whether it's premium sporting events or concerts, and imax is the best way to
experience things. So of the people went to Furiosa, they wanted to see in an imax in a disproportionate amount. And then the last thing I would say looking backwards, because I think we're at a pivot moment is that I think people have forgotten about the actors' strike and the writer's strike last year. So when you compare it to
Memorial Day, you need to put an asterisk back. You know, it's still only halfway open and in the process of reopening because a lot of those films got delayed and we're now at kind of a turning point where I think for the second half of this year and twenty five and twenty six, it's going to be dramatically different.
So a lot to get into there. Let's start with that point, though, that you've made seventeen times, you might have to make it an eighteenth time because my next question is, I mean, there's been estimates that there might not be a blockbuster that surpasses a billion dollars this summer. And I hear what you're saying in terms of your business and how it functions, but even still, I mean, does that impact you. What would that look like if we really do just have a dot of a summer?
So, first of all, I don't think there will be one, because you have big movies coming out like Despicable Me for and you have Deadpool versus Wolverine and even Bad Boys, which is next week, is tracking to pretty good numbers, so I don't think that's right. But you know, there's no magic around the billion dollar number. I mean, if you're an exhibitor, I think there might be because you'll have multiple screens and you need to have those kind of breakout hits to work. But I'max as a single
screen company. Our last seven movies in a row have all done double digit indexing. So what that means is over ten percent a less than one percent of the screens. So it's just a different business proposition. It's like comparing us to you know, a company that shoots rockets to Morris.
I mean, it's not the same kind of thing. But when you look at twenty five, for example, I mean, the slate is ridiculous, and I'll go out on a limb and I'll say, you know, not only for IMAX, but I think the industry is going to see twenty nineteen or better numbers. They're just stacked up like planes waiting to land. And it just hasn't been anything resembling normal coming out of the pandemic, going into the strikes. I mean, I think we're finally getting to that period now.
And when it comes to the twenty twenty five slate, that's even with the of course lagged impact of the writer and actors strike that we saw last summer.
No, I think enough time has gone by where that'll be over by then. And one of the points I should make is that one of the great things that's gone on at IMAX is special filmmakers so like Chris Nolan or Denis Villeneu have shot using IMAX cameras, and on those movies we really index, some people really come out. So between next May and next September, there are eight movies in a row that are shot using iMX cameras, and they include things like Top Gun, Formula One, A
Mission Impossible, two Marvel movies Superman. So I think we're pretty much getting back to normal for the exhibition industry, but for IMAX it should be much better than it was pre pandemic.
And you did make the point that when you take a look at your business, it's not just North America. Of course, you're very exposed internationally as well, And with that in mind, I'm really curious to hear how China is faring from your perspective.
So China, this will surprise a lot of your audience. But China last year was eighty five percent of its pre pandemic high, which don't you think that would surprise people when they hear about the Chinese economy and how you know, various sectors aren't doing well. The movie sector did really well last year. In terms of this year, I think it's going to be back and waited. Chinese New Year had a kind of a more eclectic mix than in other years, so it did okay. I think
it was the third best one. But this summer there's a lot of really good movies coming out. There a film called Najah, which is one of the biggest movies they've had. There's a sequel, there's a new Jackie Chan movie coming out with Bona. So again, I think you'll see that manifest itself later in the year.
And you mentioned that, you know, some of the big name filmmakers that have been shooting on Imax cameras. You have a lot of demand from Hollywood. I am curious whether big tech is also calling as well. When you think about Amazon, Apple, Netflix, for example.
So Amazon is a great starting point. We made a documentary called Blue Angels, and we made it with a bed robot, JJ Abrams and Glenn Powell, and we sold that to Amazon. So we launched it in Imax theaters and it became the number one doc of the year on all two hundred Imax theaters. A limited run. It opened this last weekend on Amazons streaming and was the number one movie of any kind on Amazon streaming. Now,
I'm not just talking documentaries of talking any movie. So that's an example how we're working with the streamers and leveraging with the streamers. Also, the Formula one movie which I just mentioned, which is being shot by Joe Kazinski and stars Brad Pitt, I mean Race Cars and Imax. I think it has a lot of potential. That's an Apple movie, and they struck a deal with Imax for
the release before they even announced the distributor. So I think that's a really good quadrant for us because especially you know, Imax really eventticized the whole movie chain. So I think the streamers recognize that, and I think by having a theatrical release through Imax, it enhances the value to them on streaming.
Well, I'm sad to say unfortunately we have to leave it there. Really enjoyed this conversation. Have to have you back soon. Let's not wait a couple of years here, thanks of course to Richard Gelfon of IMAX