Imax Inks Deal For Six New China Theaters; CEO “80%” Confident Of “Return To Normalcy” On Covid Policy, Western Films
deadline.comImax just cut a deal for six new big-screen installations in China this year — “a very positive development,” according to CEO Rich Gelfond.
The company is a big player in the Chinese market, which is still strained by Covid lockdowns and in limbo for Western theatrical releases.He noted the new contract during a Goldman Sachs media conference Q&A but with no details since it hasn’t been formally announced.
Imax has 788 theaters in China and another 198 pending out of 1,694 globally.Imax has been in China for over 20 years. Gelfond said he’s made 57 trips, and that he has reason to hope the government’s tough stance on both Covid and U.S films will ease after next month’s meeting of the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.
President Xi Jinping is poised to secure an historic third term at the momentous event held every five years.“The way the politics work in China, until that’s finalized, the bureaucracy is very conservative, so people are really afraid to go out on a limb and make a mistake.
Read more on deadline.com