Countering the idea that IMAX is too transactional because it can't control 2027-28 movies, Gelfond argues the company has unusual visibility: a public theater backlog plus films like Sam Mendes' four Beatles movies and Bond already committed through 2028-29. ✦ AI generated
Rich Gelfond · The Compound · 2026-08-10 · original ↗
starts at this moment · 9:38
“you guys can't control what movies come out in 27 and 28. And it's very much transactional. ... how do we make more money?”
I would argue that we have more visibility into the future than almost any other business cuz if you're a car company, you have zero sales on opening day. If you're IMAX, we have a backlog of theaters that we're installing. We make that public. We have numbers. We give guidance on that. We also now have an tremendous backlog of films. So we have films committed to us for um 28 and we probably have some for 29. ... In 28 we're doing the Beatles uh four movies that Sam Mendy's is doing.
verbatim transcript · starts at 9:38
9:38businesses. Well, I I would argue that we have more visibility into the future than almost any other business cuz if you're a car company, you have zero sales on opening day. If you're IMAX, we have a backlog of theaters that we're installing. We make that public. We have numbers. We give guidance on that. We also now have an tremendous backlog of films. So we have films committed to us
10:03for um 28 and we probably have some for 29. I don't know. But in 28 we're doing the Beatles uh four movies that Sam Mendy's is doing. Um Bond is >> Oh, you guys are going to take all four. You committed to taking all that's because that's a big >> What studio is that? >> Sony. That's a big risk that people want four distinct biopic parts of a Beatles
10:27movie, >> but we figured out a way where they'll be released within a time period where we're we're protect protected. >> I'm going >> and I'm going too. And then well, you're from Long Island and I am. And you know, I begged my parents to go to Sha Stadium, but I was like 12 years old and they said, "You're not getting on the I never forgave. >> The sound quality was terrible. You
10:48didn't miss anything." >> Yeah. Okay. Did you go? Well, I wasn't born yet. >> Okay. Well, that's >> that was their, you know, that was their last that was the last straw. The Beatles never wanted to play live again after that. >> No, I didn't know that. That >> they would intentionally flub the lyrics or play the wrong chords just to see if they'd get away with it. The screaming
11:06was so intense that nobody knew the difference. And they said, "From now on, we'll focus on studio albums." They never tooured America again. >> I thought it was being on Long Island that turned >> Wasn't Long Island. It wasn't Long Island. >> It was Queens. It was Queens. >> Yeah, it's Queens. [laughter] I could sort of can't you understand that a little >> so you know, right? If somebody's