IMAX brings ultimate movie experience to China

IMAX is looking to target high net-worth individuals and real estate developers in China with its new US$400,000 home theatre system.IMAX China has teamed up with Chinese multinational electronics company TCL Multimedia Technology to manufacture the 20-feet-by-10-feet screens that will play IMAX movies at the same time they are available for release in theatres.The system features sound isolation, acoustics, wall treatments and audio-visual content from IMAX.Homeowners will pay a fee for movies, a figure that IMAX is negotiating with various studios.Robert Lister, chief business development officer for IMAX Corp, said the partnership with TCL aims to strengthen both companies' positioning in China and create an ideal launch-pad for global expansion in the home entertainment sector.The Chinese box office is the second-largest in the world, earning $4.8 billion in 2014 with a 34% increase over the previous year. China is ranked right behind the US, which took home $10.4 billion last year with a 5% decrease from the year prior.IMAX currently has 251 screens in China and is planning to build 217 more. The company announced on 8 October that it reached a deal with Chinese company Omnijoi Cinemas to open an additional 15 IMAX theatre systems in China.IMAX China has started trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, becoming the first Hollywood company to list shares in Hong Kong by raising $248 million. Its box office revenue was $183 million last year.