IMAX is exploring the possibility of selling the company and has approached several entertainment companies as potential buyers, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. The process, however, is still in its early stages and may not result in any agreement.
The company's CEO Rich Gelfond previously said that IMAX is a high-value asset whether it remains a publicly traded company or part of a larger company. For Q1 2026, IMAX reported a 6% decline in revenue to $81.4 million but still beat analysts' expectations. Its domestic box office market share rose to a record 5.2% in 2025, while its global share rose to 3.8%.
Films shot in the IMAX format began to gain attention after Christopher Nolan re-popularized it with the Batman trilogy. Initially, only a few special scenes were shot in IMAX due to complications with the large cameras used with the 70mm film used. The Odyssey, which hits theaters next July, will be a full-length narrative film shot entirely on IMAX cameras by Nolan.
Higher ticket prices can be charged for films to be shown in IMAX theaters, helping to boost box office collections. Disney was willing to create a new Infinity Vision format last month after Avengers: Doomsday was unable to be shown in IMAX because its slot was already taken by Dune Part 3.
Although now seen as the most premium and prestigious film screening format today, IMAX with a 1.43:1 aspect ratio was invented by Graeme Ferguson, Roman Kroitor, Robert Kerr, and William C. Shaw in 1968. The first IMAX film was the 17-minute Tiger Child directed by Donald Brittain specifically for screening at Expo ’70 in Osaka, Japan.
