AMC, Imax Score Biggest Domestic November Opening Ever After 'Black Panther' Sequel's Release
02:33 PM EST, 11/14/2022 (MT Newswires) -- AMC Entertainment (AMC) and Imax (IMAX) said Monday that they registered their biggest domestic November opening of all time, driven by the Friday release of Walt Disney's (DIS) "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever."
The Marvel Studios' superhero sequel grossed $180 million in North America from Friday through Sunday across 4,396 theaters, according to BoxOfficeMojo, owned by Amazon.com (AMZN) company IMDb. Internationally, the movie brought in $150 million.
AMC reported more than 4.9 million moviegoers at its US and global locations from Thursday through Sunday, its fourth-highest attended weekend globally this year. The company said global admissions revenue during the period was 125% higher year over year and 53% above the same weekend in 2019. In the US, AMC saw its fourth busiest weekend of 2022 and fifth busiest weekend since reopening in 2020.
"The enormous success of 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' is yet another reminder that there are so many millions of moviegoers... who are... indeed eager to come out of their homes to enjoy the magic of the theatrical big screen," AMC Chief Executive Adam Aron said. The company expects the movie to become the second-highest grosser of 2022.
Separately, Imax said Wakanda Forever reported a $14.2 million domestic opening weekend on its screens. Internationally, the company reported $8.4 million in box office for the movie as it saw a biggest-ever November opening weekend for Imax in markets including France, Germany, Switzerland and India.
The movie has "succeeded in delivering a poignant, unmissable sequel to the iconic original, while jumpstarting the global box office ahead of a strong blockbuster slate through 2023," Imax CEO Rich Gelfond said. "Heading into the Thanksgiving holiday, we expect this film to have a strong run."
AMC shares were up 7.5% in Monday afternoon trading, while Imax was trading 0.6% higher.
Wakanda Forever should help lift its shares as its fourth-quarter global box office screening is trending down 63% year over year through Oct. 30, or down 50% over the same period in 2019, Wedbush Securities said in a Friday note. The firm said Imax stands to benefit from consumers' shift toward premium theatrical amenities and an economic rebound in China. The company's revenue should continue to grow in the "next several years" due to its global screen growth potential, buoyed by blockbuster films that have the lion's share of the box office, Wedbush said.
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