Imax ended 2025 with a record $1.28 billion grossed worldwide, the best year it’s ever had. The slate grew overall and local language films busted out with two of its top five films for the year — Ne Zha 2 ($167 million) and Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle ($95.9 million) — coming from beyond Hollywood.
The others were Avatar: Fire and Ash ($112 million), F1: The Movie ($97.6 million) and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning ($75.8 million). In all, the company grew global box office year-over-year by 40%, surpassing its previous record, set in 2019, by +13%.
It saw its highest grossing year ever in all three prime box office geographies — North America, China, and rest of world international markets — and a total of 35 countries and territories worldwide. And it expects to continue growing this year with an anticipated $1.4 billion in receipts worldwide.
As the company scales, CEO Rich Gelfond called 2025 “truly a transformational year for Imax in which we leveled up our performance across our business, capturing a greater share of total box office with a wider variety of releases across an expanding global footprint.
“We see no signs of slowing down given a very promising slate ahead and the consistency of our market share gains, as filmmakers, studios, and audiences worldwide continue to gravitate toward the Imax experience,” he said.
Key metrics for 2025 include best domestic box office with $449 million, up 14% over the previous record set in 2023; best rest of world international box office with $427 million, up 2% over the previous record set in 2023; best China box office with $407 million, up 5% over the previous record set in 2019; biggest global market share with 3.8% from 1,800+ locations; best local language box office with $405 million worldwide, up 65% over the previous record set in 2023; record box office in 35 countries and territories worldwide with standout performances in Japan, Germany, India, Australia and across Southeast Asia; largest slate in Imax history with 122 new releases worldwide; and largest local language slate in Imax history, with 67 international films released from 14 countries.
Highlights of the upcoming 2026 slate includeJon Favreau’s Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, a filmed for Imax release; Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, the first theatrical feature ever shot entirely with IMAX film cameras; Greta Gerwig’s Narnia, set for an Imax-exclusive theatrical run next Thanksgiving ahead of its Christmas release on Netflix; and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Three, also shot with Imax film cameras.
Anticipated Hollywood films Project: Hail Mary, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Michael and Toy Story 5 among others along with the Chinese New Year slate and Japanese anime round out 2026.