Oppenheimer is a hit and will keep IMAX theaters longer than expected

At the expense of Mission: Impossible 7.

“In view of his extraordinary performance, Oppenheimer will be extended in IMAX theaters for an additional week around August 16/17. After that, the plan is to show it again in these types of theaters in the fall, as soon as the permits are available.”

Universal does not hide its joy in the face with great success from the new Christopher Nolan film. In ten days, Oppenheimer earned more than $400 million in revenue worldwide, a better score than tenet, by the same director. In the United States alone, it accumulates 170 million.

For its American release on July 21, the studio had negotiated with IMAX theater operators for it to have the exclusivity of this type of screen for three weeks. A contract which therefore extends over an entire month, to the detriment of Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning – part 1.

Mission: Can Impossible 7 be able to recover from the Barbenheimer?

Despite his boundless defense of movie theaters, Tom Cruise was only entitled to a week of screenings in IMAX in the United States, which potentially causes Paramount to lose millions of dollars, because for this type of broadcasting, the price of a ticket is higher.

Bruce Markoe, one of the executives of the IMAX company, explained, seeing the “match” between Oppenheimer And Mission: Impossible 7 announce oneself: “We wanted both films to be shown in IMAX as much as possible because the last Assignment will be great entertainment to discover in this format.”

The group would have liked it to be postponed for a few weeks, but Paramount did not want to postpone it again (following its multiple production upheavals due to the Covid epidemic), priority went to Universal: “Nolan has a special place in our hearts at IMAX, commented Rich Gelfond, the boss of the box. Because he uses our cameras and promotes them. You just don’t see which movie will make the most money. We hope that after the exploitation of Oppenheimer, we can bring Mission back…”

In the United States, only 411 theaters are IMAX teams (out of 740 worldwide). And 19 cinemas can associate it with a projection in 70 mm (out of 30 in all). Of the $21.1 million raised on the day of its North American release, IMAX showings accounted for 26.2% of revenue. An excellent result, which therefore prompted the company to continue to favor the distribution ofOppenheimer.

If Universal wants to relaunch the film in IMAX to the public this fall, it will have to negotiate with other studios, in particular Warner Bros, which plans to release Dunes 2 in this format, and steal the show The Marvels, Disney Studios. Unless it is postponed to 2024 because of the writers’ and actors’ strike?