IMAX (Nasdaq: IMAX) was always big. It's getting bigger -- fast.
Box office receipts for North American IMAX movies just about doubled in 2010, according to Hollywood news site Deadline Hollywood, from $271 million to $544 million. Before you get too excited, let me remind you that IMAX doesn't get to keep all of that -- the company typically rakes in about 13% of theatrical receipts as revenue.
Still, this is a very promising trend. Those production sales make up about a quarter of the company's sales these days, but IMAX squeezes one-third of total gross profits out of that take. A year ago, those figures stood at 19% and 22%, respectively.
Put another way, IMAX is growing its production revenues very quickly, without compromising the juicy margins therein. Add in a healthy helping of revenue-sharing agreements and steady system installations across the globe, and you have a tasty recipe for drastically increasing profits.
Of course, IMAX is nothing without a strong slate of movie releases. So far, Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) and Dreamworks Animation SKG (Nasdaq: DWA) have provided plenty of suitably over-the-top IMAX experiences, and James Cameron's Avatar gave News Corp (NYSE: NWS) subsidiary 20th Century Fox an excuse to get in on the IMAX action.
Given how IMAX releases support higher ticket prices, I don't see the growth abating anytime soon -- Hollywood loves nothing more than money. Even if IMAX can't double its revenue on double the box office, the profits sure follow suit -- and isn't that what really matters?
Add IMAX to your Foolish watchlist to get a larger-than-life view of Hollywood's future.
