Review and forecast: How execs view industry and China's economy

Edwin Tan, CEO, IMAX China

Q1: How do you evaluate your company's performance in China as well as in the global market in 2021?

In 2021, the global theater industry experienced an accelerating recovery mainly driven by China, which has been the world's biggest theatrical market through 2020 and 2021.

We had a stellar performance in China this year and roared back globally. In China, we are delighted to see an increased share of releases of locally created content with record index for domestic titles. Globally, due to China's ever-growing film market and Chinese theatres being some of the first to open worldwide, IMAX's global box office sales have also performed outstandingly. The company achieved the best year ever for local, non-English language films largely due to the record-breaking box office of Chinese tentpole films on IMAX screens, thanks to the government's effective pandemic control.

During China's National Day holiday, Chinese New Year and other key film releases windows, IMAX delivered an unprecedented holiday box office performance. There are now about 750 IMAX theaters in China, making it the company's largest market by screen count. The IMAX network has become a major box-office driver for Hollywood and local content.

We also feel proud that IMAX is making further contributions to the production upgrade of the Chinese film industry. Chinese filmmakers have increasingly begun to integrate IMAX DNA, using IMAX aspect ratio or IMAX certified cameras at the production stage. In the past 14 months, three of the biggest Chinese films of all-time used IMAX cameras or joined the Filmed for IMAX programs including The Eight Hundred, Detective Chinatown 3, and the war epic The Battle at Lake Changjin.

Q2: Do you plan to deepen your company's footprint in China next year? If so, how?

Widely recognized by the Chinese market, IMAX is committed to delivering high-quality content with premium IMAX experience to Chinese moviegoers. We will continue to deepen our footprint in China by expansion of our theatre network and working with the industry to participate in the early stage of film production, offering more films and experience with IMAX DNA.

Moreover, we have expanded our product portfolio with IMAX Enhanced, extending our iconic IMAX experience to home entertainment experience. IMAX Enhanced offers the immersive viewing experience outside of a theatre by bringing together best-in-class certified devices, remastered content and elevated streaming. In partnership with DTS, we have developed an ecosystem joining hands with a few Chinese partners, including Tencent, IQiyi, TCL, Hisense, Xiaomi and Honor.

Q3: How do you rate China's economic performance in 2021?

We are impressed by the vitality of China's economy; in terms of the film industry, China is now home to the world's largest box office. In the year 2021, Chinese moviegoers' demand for premium moviegoing experience became stronger, and IMAX had a strong year of recovery in China, this largely was due to an earlier pandemic reopening of cinemas and the performance of local titles.

Q4: What are your views on the improvements in China's business environment in 2021, and what are your expectations for further reform and opening-up?

While wrapping up the year with new records, we are deeply encouraged by the newly released 14th Five-Year Plan for the development of Chinese films and the objective of building a culturally strong country, which outlined that there will be 100,000 movie screens in the country by 2025. We are encouraged to continue to develop in the Chinese market.

The plan is a good omen for all players in the film industry, including us. IMAX has already developed a strong theatre network and brand presence in China, and we will continue to strengthen IMAX DNA and cooperation with local Chinese content and build on the momentum to cope with the growing market and audiences' appetite for premium moviegoing experience.

Q5: What are your forecasts of China and the global economic performance in 2022?

The recently concluded Central Economic Work Conference just mapped out a mix of measures to stabilize China's economic growth next year. We are confident that the Chinese government will take effective measures to complete the tasks and energize the vitality of market players. IMAX is prepared to embrace changes and step into a future where China is expected to play a bigger role in the global entertainment industry.