IMAX 'Tron: Legacy' Fan Celebration (Photo : Getty Images)
Even if Wanda Cinema Line backed out from the planned purchase of a sister company, Wanda Cinema which owns Legendary Entertainment, the Chinese entertainment giant is still in an acquisition mode.
On Wednesday, Forbes reported that the Dalian Group entered into a deal with IMAX to construct 150 new movie houses in China over the next six years. It is the biggest deal in IMAX history, bringing to 742 IMAX screens in China when the 150 are operational. It would be twice the number of IMAX theaters in the U.S.
IMAX currently runs 335 cinemas in China which contributed 30 percent to the company’s 2015 $373.8 million revenue. The share of China would likely get bigger further when the new screens are all installed by 2021 which would place the total number of Wanda-run IMAX cinemas in China to 360.
The IMAX deal is the latest in Dalian Wanda’s shopping binge which added the Hoyts Group of theaters in Australia and is bidding to acquire Odeon & UCI Cinemas Group in UK and the Carmike Cinemas.
In a press statement, IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond said, “[The deal] not only strengthens our market-leading position in China, the world’s fastest-growing film market, but also reinforces our strong working relationship with Wanda Cinema.”
Gelfond added that IMAX expansion would generate larger box office returns for production houses in China and Hollywood. He noted that even if in absolute numbers, China is the fastest-growing film market in the world, the number of movies watched by Chinese compared to other countries indicates it is still an embryonic market with a lot of organic growth potentials, reported Financial Times.
