‘Batman v Superman,’ ‘Deadpool’ and ‘Zootopia’ boost Imax earnings

Imax Corp. earnings soared in the first quarter thanks to an unusually strong crop of blockbuster movies in the beginning of the year, as studios increasingly spread out their big movie releases.

The premium cinema company on Thursday reported adjusted profit that hit $15.5 million, or 22 cents a share, for the three months that ended March 31, more than triple its earnings for the same period a year ago. Its sales increased 48% to $92.1 million.

The results easily beat Wall Street expectations. Analysts had estimated earnings of 15 cents a share on revenue of $84 million.

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Imax has benefited from an increasingly common strategy among major Hollywood studios to release bigger movies at unexpected periods on the calendar. This year, in particular, has seen summer-like grosses from movies that were released in February and March.

In a prime example, 20th Century Fox released the acerbic superhero movie “Deadpool” in February, resulting in $759 million at the global box office.

After that, Walt Disney Animation unleashed its early-March release “Zootopia,” pulling in $885 million so far. Warner Bros.’ epic hero matchup “Batman v Superman” has hauled in $834 million and counting.

“The first quarter usually doesn’t have these kinds of movies,” Imax Chief Executive Richard Gelfond said in an interview. “I think it’s one of the cleanest and one of the best quarters we’ve had. The films we had not only played well, but they were spread out nicely during the quarter.”

The long-term extension of the blockbuster season is particularly helpful to Imax, which relies on big spectacle-driven movies to draw people to their screens at multiplexes and purchase pricier tickets.

Imax’s box office tally for the first three months of the year was $272 million, up 64% from the first quarter of 2015.

The company also saw a significant increase in the box office from China as Imax continues to set up new screens in the world’s most populous country. Imax’s China box office sales rose 32% to $83.4 million in the quarter.

Gelfond said the cinema industry in China has continued to surge despite broader economic headwinds in the country, which is expected to surpass the U.S. and Canada as the world’s biggest film market in a few years.

“Affordable luxuries like going to the movies weren’t affected,” Gelfond said of spending habits in China. “They may have cut back on extraordinary expenses but not the ordinary, day-to-day kinds of things.”

Gelfond noted the remainder of 2016 looks powerful in terms of movie selection, following up on an industrywide record year in ticket sales for 2015. He hopes the industry will continue to build momentum on its strong start.

Last weekend’s “The Jungle Book” from Disney has proved a breakout hit, for instance. That could be followed by big studio films like “Captain America: Civil War,” “X-Men: Apocalypse,” “Star Trek Beyond” and an “Independence Day” sequel.

Imax, which has offices in Toronto, New York and Los Angeles, has more than 1,000 screens worldwide.

Follow Ryan Faughnder on Twitter for more entertainment business coverage: @rfaughnder