Shanghai Film Corporation has committed to installing a further five Imax theaters in its Shanghai United Circuit cinemas.
Four of the theaters will be located in existing multiplexes in Hangzhou, Qingdao, Shenzhen and Chengdu, with another to be added to a new development in Changzhou.
The company already operates 16 Imax theaters, and the deal extends its commitment to 30. SFC is the company’s third-largest partner in China and fifth-largest partner worldwide.
"Moviegoers in China continue to embrace Imax as the best way to experience blockbuster films, as our experience this year has shown, with ‘Furious 7,’ which is now the highest-grossing Imax title in China of all time as well as the recently released “Monster Hunt,” which is the highest-grossing Chinese Imax title to date,” said Imax CEO Richard L. Gelfond in a statement.
Shanghai United has over 230 affiliate multiplexes in 23 provinces with over 1,200 screens and 16 Imax screens. In 2014, SUC had gross revenues of RMB 2.274 billion ($355 million at current exchange rates) for a 7.7% share of the total China box office.