IMAX

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to the first quarter 2026 IMAX Corporation earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star one one on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised, and to withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would like now to turn the conference over to Jennifer Horsley, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Good afternoon. Thank you for joining us for IMAX's first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. On the call today to review the financial results are Natasha Fernandes, our Chief Financial Officer, and Rob Lister, our Chief Legal Officer. Today's conference call is being webcast in its entirety on our website. A replay of the webcast will be made available shortly after the call. The full text of our earnings press release and the slide presentation have been posted on the investor relations section of our site. Our historical Excel model is posted to the website as well. I would like to remind you of the following information regarding forward-looking statements. Today's call, as well as the accompanying slide deck, may include statements that are forward-looking and that pertain to future results or outcomes.

These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual future results to not occur or occurrences to differ. Please refer to our SEC filings for a more detailed discussion of some of the factors that could affect our future results and outcomes. Any forward-looking statements that are made on this call are based on assumptions as of today, and we undertake no obligation to update these statements as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. During today's call, references may be made to certain non-GAAP financial measures. Discussion of management's use of these measures and the definition of these measures, as well as a reconciliation to non-GAAP financial measures are contained in this afternoon's press release and our earnings materials, which are available on the investor relations page of our website at imax.com.

Before we begin, Rich would like to provide a brief update on his recovery, and then the call will turn over to Natasha.

Thanks, Jennifer. Good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for joining us today. Natasha will handle today's call and Q&A session. Before I turn it over to her, I wanted to provide a brief update on my recovery from pneumonia. I'm happy to share that I'm making excellent progress, and I'm gradually resuming oversight of the business and involved in all key strategic decisions. Our management team is doing an outstanding job and will continue with their day-to-day responsibilities as well. I wanna send my sincerest thanks for your well wishes and kind words of support over these past few weeks. I greatly appreciate it, and I appreciate your time and attention today. With the incredible start to the second quarter and a fantastic slate ahead, I'm as excited as I've ever been about the IMAX business. With that, I'll turn it over to Natasha.

Thanks, Rich. With the heart of our formidable slate now rolling out, we remain very confident in our 2026 guidance, including a record $1.4 billion in global box office this year. Our story is one of strong, growing momentum. It is clearer than ever that IMAX is evolving into something bigger, a global platform for blockbuster films, events, and experiences with a moat defined by our technology, relationships, and brand, enabling a diversified dynamic content portfolio across Hollywood, local language, documentaries, music, sports, gaming, and more. Project Hail Mary, a film for IMAX release, delivered an emphatic conclusion to the first quarter and has now earned more than $90 million in IMAX, more than double our initial projections.

This excellent performance, alongside Avatar: Fire and Ash, lifted our global box office outside of China up 67% year-over-year in Q1 and partially offset our lower Greater China box office, where we faced a significant comp against last year's massive Ne Zha 2. That includes growth of 75% in North America and 60% in rest of world markets. Our platform has kicked into high gear. IMAX global box office in the current quarter-to-date is over $100 million, up over 10% year-over-year. We've scored three consecutive global opening weekends of over $20 million, with three very different titles for very different audiences. This is the kind of strength across genres, demos, and geographies that drove our record performance in 2025.

We delivered over 18% of the global box office for Project Hail Mary, including 30% market share in China, proving again the strong indexing we command there for Hollywood's biggest blockbusters. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie was our second-biggest animated debut of all time as we continue to grow with family audiences, one of the fastest-growing segments of the box office. Michael delivered our biggest debut all time for a musical biopic with strong 14% indexing in North America. In local language, Toho's latest Detective Conan in Japan earned a franchise best $3.2 million in IMAX. Dune: Part Two notched our second-biggest opening weekend ever in India. Our promising slate was on full display at the annual CinemaCon Industry Convention this month, including an exclusive look at Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, the first film shot entirely with IMAX film cameras.

Everything we've seen and know tells us that it will be something truly special and another incredible entry into our partnership with the Nolans that has yielded over $700 million in IMAX box office worldwide. A sneak peek at the first seven minutes of Dune: Part Three, which was also shot with IMAX film and looks to be visually stunning as anything Director Denis Villeneuve has brought to screen. Tickets to select IMAX 70mm screenings of the film recently sold out in minutes, nine months ahead of its release. Both filmmakers joined us for our recent CEO Forum in April, perhaps the most successful in the 13-year history of the event. At the annual event, an exclusive gathering of global exhibition CEOs representing at least 3/4s of the world's box office, we also hosted Tom Cruise, Timothée Chalamet, and Jon Favreau.

It has truly become a signature event for our company and the only C-level gathering where exhibitors, filmmakers, and talent, and studio chiefs from around the world can engage in strategic, off-the-record dialogue about the industry. It also underscores the power of our team and our brand to connect and lead across the ecosystem and, deliver value to our partners in countless ways beyond our technology. The Odyssey and Dune stand alongside Jon Favreau's The Mandalorian and Grogu and Greta Gerwig's Narnia at the top of a list of major tentpole films leaning heavily into IMAX in 2026. That includes one-week runs to launch highly anticipated releases, including Filmed for IMAX release Mortal Kombat II, Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day, a return to sci-fi for the legendary director, Toy Story 5, which will look to continue Pixar's resurgence. Supergirl, also Filmed for IMAX, a follow-up to last year's hit Superman.

Minions & Monsters, the latest installment of this franchise phenomenon, and the live-action version of Moana, following the animated sequel's billion-dollar performance in 2024. We see great potential in other Filmed for IMAX titles, including Zach Cregger's Resident Evil, Street Fighter, and The End of Oak Street, as well as upside in Tom Cruise's Digger and J.J. Abrams' The Great Beyond. We have a growing lineup of expected Chinese films this year, including two releases, Penghu and the film for IMAX title Once Upon a Time in the Middle East, that shifted from Chinese New Year and are expected to release later in 2026. We also expect to play Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday across our locations in Greater China.

Our first film for IMAX releases from Japan and India, Godzilla Minus Zero and Ramayana: Part One and next year's Varanasi anchor an excellent local language slate internationally. We've also added several high-profile releases to our slate, including the Filmed for IMAX sequel to Brendan Fraser's The Mummy in 2027 and highly anticipated film for IMAX titles in 2028, including Paramount and Activision's live-action feature film, Call of Duty, directed by Peter Berg and written by Berg and Taylor Sheridan. Joe Kosinski's Miami Vice '85, starring Michael B. Jordan and Austin Butler, and A24's Elden Ring video game adaptation. We also continue to program experiences beyond feature films to strengthen our offering from Formula 1 to some supersonic music projects in the pipeline. Formula 1 is exceeding our expectations with strong pre-sales heading into this weekend's first race in IMAX, the Miami Grand Prix.

As we've seen with Project Hail Mary, Baz Luhrmann's EPiC, Apple's Formula 1 coverage, and The Mandalorian and Grogu, content owners are increasingly leaning on IMAX as a powerful global launch platform with exclusive advanced releases, previews, and events. Audiences know that the IMAX experience begins well before and extends far beyond our immersive visual and sound technology. We work directly with the greatest filmmakers in the world on image capture with our proprietary film and certified digital cameras. We offer more picture through our exclusive IMAX expanded aspect ratio. We remaster every film, event, and experience we distribute to ensure the highest quality presentation. We monitor all 1,865 of our locations around the world for quality control in real-time, 24/7. As a result, we have incredibly passionate, loyal fan base.

Our audience engagement scores consistently rival blue-chip brands like Netflix, Nike, Marvel, and Amazon. In short, there is no better platform for blockbuster success than the IMAX global platform. This simple fact continues to drive strong global network growth. Last year, we grew IMAX's footprint by 4% in the U.S. and more than 8% in the rest of world markets. Our momentum reflects how exhibitors worldwide view IMAX and the long-term productivity of the network. With IMAX still less than 50% penetrated globally in our latest zoning analysis, we continue to see meaningful runway for growth. Year-to-date, we signed agreements for over 40 new and upgraded IMAX systems worldwide across 10 countries with 18 partners.

Most recently, with our biggest deal ever in one of the most productive markets in the world, our 10-system agreement with HOYTS in Australia and New Zealand, which will nearly double our footprint in the region. Importantly, our sales activity is well-distributed geographically with three domestic signings, nine in Australia, over 10 in China, seven in Japan, and seven across EMEA, including Spain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Egypt. With more than half of our signings representing new IMAX locations, which are a meaningful driver to our network economics. At the same time, we are selectively upgrading high-performing locations where we see clear opportunities to drive incremental box office. We are seeing particular strength in key high box office markets like Japan, where we have already signed seven systems year-to-date, continuing the momentum of our 13 signings in 2025.

We also expanded our relationship with VieShow in Taiwan with upgrades that will transition the entire circuit to IMAX with Laser. We continue to broaden our exhibitor, onboarding new partners in Spain, Germany, and France. Looking ahead, we are engaged in numerous additional opportunities with leading exhibitors across key markets. We look forward to keeping you updated on our progress. Let's turn now to our first quarter results. Starting with the bottom line, first quarter adjusted net income grew 33% to $10 million, while adjusted EPS grew $0.17, up $0.04 year-over-year. IMAX delivered revenues of $81.4 million, a decline of $5 million year-over-year, driven by decreased revenues in Greater China. Revenue outside of Greater China grew by $15 million. Gross margin declined to $46 million from $53 million in the prior year.

Operating expenditures, which includes R&D and SG&A, excluding stock-based compensation, was $28 million for the quarter compared to $30 million in the prior year, reflecting our continued strong cost discipline and timing of spend. Adjusted EBITDA declined in line with revenue, down $6 million year-over-year to $31 million. As a result, adjusted EBITDA margin was 38% compared to 43% the prior year. We remain confident in our forecast of total adjusted EBITDA margin of more than 50% in the coming years. In our Content Solutions segment, revenues declined 8% to $31 million due to the tough comp in China against last year's massive hit, Ne Zha 2.

Box office grew significantly outside of China, including 90% growth in EMEA, while China box office declined 62% due to an exceptionally strong Q1 in the prior year and the timing of major releases this year. We expect IMAX box office in China to be more evenly spread throughout the year versus 2025, where 46% of our China box office came in the first quarter, well beyond the 30% we normally see. Content Solutions delivered gross profit of $18 million, a decline of $5 million driven by lower box office, and gross margin declined to 58% versus 69% in the prior year. Turning to our Technology Products and Services segment. IMAX delivered revenues of $48 million, a decline of 4% driven by lower box office-related system rental revenue in China.

Gross profit margin of 56% was in line with gross profit margin of 57% the prior year. We're off to a solid start with system installations, installing 19 systems in the first quarter compared to 21 in the prior year and 15 in Q1 of 2024. Of those 19 systems, 11 were joint revenue sharing systems and eight were sales arrangements, 11 were upgrades, and eight were new locations. These new locations again showcased our diversifying network footprint spread across Japan, England, France, Singapore, South Africa, China, and the U.S. Turning to cash flow and the balance sheet. IMAX cash flow from operations was $4 million compared to $7 million in the prior year and includes $8 million in higher year-over-year lease incentives provided to exhibitors to support the building of new IMAX auditoriums.

This investment reflects the continued prioritization of our use of available capital to invest in growth, including partnering with exhibitors to expand and upgrade our network through joint revenue sharing arrangements. This strategy will empower IMAX to take full advantage of our expanding brand and market share and the promising slate that continues to take shape for the years ahead. We maintain a strong capital structure, thanks to our asset light model and focused execution, as well as the work we did last year to refinance our convertible notes and expand our revolving facility. As of March 31st, we held $146 million in cash and $300 million in debt, with a net leverage of 0.86x. To conclude, the best is yet to come in what we believe will be a record year for IMAX, and our momentum is building.

Our exhibitor partners share our excitement for IMAX, our slate, and the value we deliver, which is why we've added more than 30 partners worldwide in the past two years and continue to dramatically diversify our footprint. As our global box office and network grows, our increased scale will drive expanding margins and cash flows, and we will remain focused on keeping operating expenses substantially flat. We remain very well-positioned to achieve our 2026 guidance, including record global box office of $1.4 billion, 160 system-175 system installations worldwide, and adjusted EBITDA margin in the mid-40%s with at least 45%. There has never been a better time to be in the IMAX business.

We continue to deliver clear evidence that IMAX is not just outperforming the market but helping to expand it, attracting audiences, growing incremental box office, and driving value throughout the ecosystem. Thank you. With that, I will turn the call over to the operator for Q&A.

Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, please press star one one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Our first question is gonna come from Drew Crum with B. Riley Securities. Your line is open.

Okay, thanks. Good afternoon, everyone. Rich, good to hear you on the call. Natasha, just on the adjusted EBITDA margin guidance with a floor of 45%, does that assume a global box office of $1.4 billion? If so, just trying to understand how the margin would be flattish year-on-year with an incremental $100 million+ in box office.

Hi, Drew. Yes, margins really, it does fluctuate normally quarter-to-quarter, but if you look at the whole year, billion for a box office, I understand the incrementality will come through. We've chatted about this even on the last call as well, is that there's always a mix between the regions of box office, whether you have local language or Hollywood and the amount that we're investing into marketing. This year there are a lot of Hollywood titles that are significantly larger titles than last year. As we look towards that, our goal would be to lean in heavily into IMAX and marketing, the titles as well. That's where the margins can ebb and flow. Of course, you can capture more than the 45%.

This is just from a guidance perspective, you know, providing that guidance with respect to the floor of the 45%. Of course, there's opportunity in that too.

Got it. Okay, that makes sense. Any disruptions created by the U.S.-Iran conflict during late 1Q or early 2Q? Anything you've seen, anything contemplated in your annual outlook? Thanks.

No, not at all. If not for us, we know we have about 35 locations within the region in the Middle East, and majority are continuing to operate. We haven't experienced anything significant that has, you know, will impact our plans for the year as well. As you heard, we continue to expect to install 160 system-175 systems as well. You know, if you look at the way that we're building out our entire worldwide network, there's many countries that we're leaning into, and one of those is Australia that we just signed the deal with this week and announced as well.

Got it. Okay, thanks.

Thank you. Our next question will come from Michael Hickey with StoneX. Your line is open.

Hey, thanks. Hey, Rich, Natasha. Congrats guys on a great quarter. A great start to the year. Obviously, a lot more to come. Just on the Australia deal. Nice to see some growth from that region. Just curious if you could sort of frame it for us, Natasha, the growth opportunity network-wise in Australia and Japan. The follow-up I'll give you now, just what you see from those regions as well in terms of relative PSAs and local language development in terms of films. Thanks, guys.

Yeah. I think it was a really important deal for us. I mean, for the longest time, we had only about two locations. This past year in 2025, we ramped up and installed some more locations in time for Avatar and started the year with about 10 locations. Now adding this new deal, you know, we're sitting with the potential to more than double our footprint in Australia. Australia is one of the strongest performing regions and countries for us. Some of the locations have PSAs up to $4 million, which is absolutely amazing, and I think that that's the opportunity is the ticket price varies over there as well.

Knowing that you have the opportunity to have outsized performance from a mix of not only growing your network, but you're also getting the leaning into IMAX and the higher ticket prices. I mean, it's been one of our priority markets as well. We're only about 13% penetrated, so there's a lot of growth and opportunity there. As you look at Japan, we signed another seven systems in Japan this quarter. Last year, we signed 13. Off of the success of Demon Slayer in local language in Japan, we're continuing to do that. I did announce in the prepared remarks and it was heavily shown at CinemaCon as well, Godzilla Minus Zero, so our first local language film for IMAX title in Japan, which they're leaning in very heavy into IMAX with that as well.

You know, Japan's only 47% penetrated, so a lot of opportunity there. Those per screen averages remain just as strong as they've ever been, which is very good because I think you know, as we start to expand in Japan and continue to grow that network, you know, you contemplate whether or not the per screen averages will move, but they've actually shown considerable strength there.

Nice. Thank you, Natasha. Good luck, guys.

Thank you. The next question's gonna come from Eric Handler with ROTH Capital. Your line's open.

Good afternoon. Thanks for the question. Natasha, starting at your Investor Day last year, you did mention how IMAX was selectively looking at opportunities to maybe put some more capital into their deals above and beyond just sort of like the cost of the screen installation. This $8 million of higher lease incentives is that part of that strategy? How do you measure ROI with those investments?

It is Eric. Actually, you know, it was a significant expenditure for us in the quarter, and I'm sure you saw that it impacted our cash from ops. I see that as a good thing. You know, investing the $8 million to help grow the network faster ahead of the fantastic slate that we still have ahead of us coming, and as well into 2027 and 2028, I think that's the opportunity for us. We do value and really look at what the opportunity for a return on it is. First of all, always using that capital for new locations and not simply for upgrades. That would be new box office potential for us. Also in high performing markets and with partners that we know that we can expand and have greater penetration as well.

We know that they'll lean in and all of those things working together, we've been able to value out what that arrangement will look like. Each arrangement does look different as well. Of course, all within the respect of making sure that we hit our return hurdles and also just for the opportunity to continue to quickly expand the network, therefore grow the box office. As you know, that will continue to not only grow the box office, but then grow the network, and it works in a nice cycle from that perspective.

Okay. That's helpful. I wonder, you know, as you look further into markets like Australia, Japan, you know, EMEA, are these more JV type deals, or are they doing more, are they more interested in like straight sales?

Actually, it's a mix, Eric. It's dependent on the partner. It's dependent on the way the negotiation goes as well. I think part of it is we also like to have a good mix within our revenues and the way that we build out the network. Sometimes it's been JVs and others, it's been sales. Japan, for instance, hybrids are a really good opportunity there, where not only do you cover the cost of the system, but then you get to participate in the box office performance. That actually is a fantastic model for a lot of markets like Europe as well and Australia and France in particular in Europe has been very good for that too.

I think that's a really good way to be able to capture the box office potential and the incrementality that can flow through our model.

Thank you.

Thank you. Our next question's gonna come from Chad Beynon with Macquarie Capital. Your line's open.

Afternoon. Thanks for taking my question. Rich, glad to hear you're progressing well and looking forward to talking to you soon. Natasha, with respect to China, the comment that you gave earlier, just in terms of the weighting, or I guess, you know, what we saw last year, this year being more balanced, consumer feels to be improving, your indexing is strong. Can you roughly talk about, you know, the slate for the rest of the year, whether it's local language versus Hollywood, and really just what gives you the confidence that China will come through in 2026? Thanks.

Yeah. For China, I think the best of it is that we're managing it on an annual global portfolio, and it gives us the ability to stack our slate for the best results. I mean, you can have unexpected outsized performance. Look at Ne Zha 2 last year, right? From a local language title or from other titles. I think the biggest thing to remember, Chad, is that as a company, we're not so much focused on the geographies as much as we're focused on the overall slate for our company.

What's great about this year is there's a lot of Hollywood titles that have strong potential in China, like The Odyssey and Dune, but also the local language slate is stacking up as well, and we do expect there to be several titles released into the summer, and the May holiday is coming upon us this weekend as well, and there's a couple titles there, including Cold War, which is supposed to do, which is tracking very well in China, as well as obviously The Devil Wears Prada and some Hollywood titles going there. I think what's been good about China is that we're gonna be able to create a good mix between both Hollywood and local language, and in order to capture the wins this year.

There's other IP that'll perform there as well, like Toy Story. Of course, we're gonna look towards the rest of the world and other areas. What's really good, Chad, is that the rest of world regions, you know, if you think about the fact that we've grown over 8% in the rest of world outside of China, and domestically we've grown over 4%. That's where you can also start to see that you capture box office from many regions, not simply focusing on China, but looking at how do we make sure we have a good mix globally and continue to capture those market shares. It's enabled us to have a trailing 12-month market share of 3.8%. With that, we've grown our rest of world market share as well in the quarter. That's been great.

Great. Thank you. Maybe takeaways from CinemaCon. It seems pretty positive from investors' standpoint, but how are you guys feeling just in terms of the content beyond 2026, whether it's the quality or just the number of titles that you took away from CinemaCon or CEO Forum? Thanks.

CinemaCon, it was great this year. I mean, we saw you there. I think the buzz around CinemaCon was so uplifting this year compared to last year. I think the industry is excited. It's gonna be a great year for 2026. I think the best of the slate is definitely ahead of us for IMAX, with lots of film for IMAX coming, including The Odyssey and Dune. I think the other part is if you look out to the future years, I mean, what's very positive is that we have a strong demand, and our slate and content visibility continues to strengthen, and we continue to make moves on that every day to strengthen and solidify that. I mean, 2027 is already approaching 10 FFI titles.

You know, there's some really large ones in there too. In 2028, we actually have five announced FFI titles, plus we just confirmed today with Disney Pixar that Incredibles 3 will be released as a Filmed for IMAX title, and it will feature IMAX exclusive, 1.43:1 aspect ratio. I think what you're seeing is that exhibitors clearly are seeing our growing market share and the growing demand by consumers for IMAX across film genres and content. You know, there's just so much excitement about not only this year's slate but also the slate going forward in 2027 and 2028.

Great. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Our next question is going to come from David Karnovsky with J.P. Morgan. Your line's open.

Hey, thanks. Natasha, with Disney's Infinity Vision announcement, there hasn't been a lot of details on this. Interested in your view. Is it your understanding they're trying to kind of unify PLF formats under a brand, or is this just kind of specific to Avengers? You know, is there any kind of read-through that we should have to kind of your relationship with the studio?

Hi, David. You know, from our view, we feel it's a pure marketing play to try and offset the fact that they don't have an IMAX platform or brand for Avengers: Doomsday. It doesn't offer the consumer anything that they couldn't get yesterday. You know, Marvel fans, we believe that they're among the savviest, most discerning moviegoers out there. There's a reason why we're the undisputed leader in premium cinema worldwide. No one can match our relationship with filmmakers, our image capture with our proprietary film and digital cameras, our post-production and exclusive IMAX expanded aspect ratio. Essentially, we have the most immersive proprietary architecture in our auditoriums and consistent delivery of that across all of our 1,800 locations as we monitor that in real-time and 24/7 for control and quality.

You know, I think the biggest part about it is the fact that we are a consistent platform and delivery for consumers. That's sort of how we feel about the announcement with Infinity Vision.

Okay. I just wanna ask one on gross margins, for content. Obviously, the year-over-year is impacted by the box office, but there have been some quarters where you've put up a higher margin on a similar level. Just wanted to understand if there are any kind of unique puts and takes to think about it for Q1.

Sure. I think, you know, margin will fluctuate normally quarter-by-quarter. It's similar to box office cadence. You know, when you see the margin percent, kind of moving with the box office. Of course, I know what you said about box office and our ability to still deliver on margins in other quarters. I think part of that is we actually are focused this year on marketing. We've seen that the Dune tickets and the Odyssey tickets have all been, you know, moving. Particularly Dune, we put those out for sale already, which means we've been marketing. We are marketing titles well in advance right now for this year.

In Q1, of course, we took some marketing charges ahead of time, but we think that those returns are in front of us. As you heard, I did reiterate our guidance for adjusted EBITDA as well.

Thank you.

Thank you. The next question is gonna come from Omar Mejias with Wells Fargo. Your line is open.

Hey, guys. Wanted to give Rich my best wishes and then wishing him a speedy recovery. Natasha, maybe first on signings. I think 1Q this year had 23 signings versus last year, 95. Just curious, can you frame this, how much of this is timing related and if this has any impact on install cadence throughout the year?

Yeah. I think we're seeing good pacing and ramping of installations and signings. I mean, year-to-date, actually, our signings are sitting at 42, and what's great is it's across 10 countries. That's fantastic. I think, you know, it's not indicative versus what we had last year. Last year was one large deal for AMC, and we did note that as well. For us, that's timing. I mean, we are focused for installations on getting installs in, and we had 19, which is a great number. It was across eight countries in the first quarter. One thing that you can't see through our financials is how focused we are on getting installations in high-performing sites. Secondly, on getting installations in for film systems in advance of The Odyssey.

We do expect to have 41 film system locations in for The Odyssey versus 30 that we had for Oppenheimer. It's about 40% more. What's key about it is that you're not seeing that counted as installations because they're going into sites that already have a laser or digital system. Once the film is distributed, the productivity of these locations will increase significantly. You know, we've added a lot of key locations already for the film systems, and we're highly focused on that. On the signings front, I mean, we had the 10-system deal with HOYTS, you know, also we've had over 10 signings in China, seven in Japan, seven in EMEA, including Spain, France, Germany, Netherlands, Egypt.

I think what's great is that more than half of our signings actually represent new IMAX locations. A meaningful driver for our network economics and includes some that we'll install this year as well.

That is very helpful. Maybe one more for me. There were some media reports talking about the $50 movie ticket as a ride for certain films in premium theaters. Just want to get your thoughts, how widespread is this and how much more room for growth from a theater's perspective you think there is in this front, especially for some of the biggest titles across some of the PLF locations?

Sure, Omar. I mean, we've talked about this before, of course, too. We don't set ticket prices. Of course, we believe there's opportunity in the ticket prices, but it's not something that we do set. I mean, you saw the Dune tickets go on sale, then all of a sudden you saw them go on aftermarket sales as well, right? I do think there's opportunity, but I think there's, you know, it's a whole experience. Exhibitors need to think through, you know, what's the opportunity for different films, for different days of the week, for different show times, and a lot goes into that. It also goes into whether they're capable to do that with their systems that they operate as well.

You know, I think that's kind of the potential that you see before everyone as to how do we continue to grow box office as well.

Great. Thank you.

Thank you. The next question will come from Eric Wold with Texas Capital Securities. Your line's open.

Thank you. Good afternoon, everybody. Two questions. I guess one, Natasha, as you look at the backlog, I know you've worked on in prior years cleaning up the backlog with the agreements that may be stale in there. Any remaining opportunities in the backlog to work with exhibitors to accelerate installations, move locations around to other zones that may be earlier in the queue or shrink zones to drive new deals?

Yeah. I think obviously, we have good visibility into our backlog. We're about 430 systems. We do comb through that backlog. We actually did an exercise a couple of years ago, which I know we've talked about, that we've kind of walked through our backlog and made sure everything is that we're able to roll it out, and we've updated our plans, and we continue to do that. We feel good about our backlog. There is always opportunity. There are some of our exhibitors are global exhibitors, so they operate in different countries. There are opportunities when they sign deals that sometimes we'll shift it from one country to another, and we've done that very recently as well.

I think that our team is very active and skilled in that. They are in constant communication with the exhibitors and are tracking a list. It's all list managed as well and they have a lot of experience in that area.

Got it. Last question, I know it should be discussed this in the past, and I apologize if I missed it. Looking at the historical model that you put on the website, it looks like 30 or so systems in China were reclassified from hybrid JV to STLs. I guess, what was the rationale behind that? Will that have any impact on your revenue share going forward from those agreements?

I think you saw that right in the documents. From time to time, we always go through an assessment of locations, and they might come up for upgrade or renewal, and we decide whether or not both parties together decide whether or not we are ready for an upgrade or renewal, or whether we wanna wait a little longer for that. At some point in time, we'll transfer the title, and so it'll shift from a JV over to a sales type. Nothing that kind of changes the box office dynamic for us on that. I think from that perspective, nothing material that you would need to note from it.

Perfect. Thank you.

Thank you. The next question is going to come from Steven Frankel with Rosenblatt Securities. Your line's open.

Good afternoon, and thank you. Natasha, India has been a market that's had a lot of potential, and you had some good progress with some local language content. Historically, there have been, let's call them backlog conversion problems. It's taken longer than you thought to get some of these theaters open. Where are we in that process today?

I think we still have a lot of opportunity. I think we're only about 28%-30% penetrated in India, a lot of growth to be had. You're not wrong, it does take long to insta-install and get permits and complete an installation. What you haven't maybe seen is that we have grown that network over the past few years. We have been signing with different partners in India as well, that's been a good opportunity for us. One thing that, as you mentioned, is the local language. For us to be doing the Ramayana: Part One, that's this year. There will be a Part 2, Varanasi, all Filmed for IMAX titles in India.

That's a really big deal because over 90% of their box office is local language. The big opportunity before us is to continue to show how well local language can perform in IMAX in India, therefore it'll stir up that conversation for future growth there as well.

One quick follow-up on that. What are the ticket prices like on a Filmed for IMAX title in India relative to traditional Indian ticket prices?

Well, that one, Steve, I may have to get back to you because we've never done a Filmed for IMAX title yet in India, so we're gonna see what they go for later on this year. We will keep you updated on it.

Great. Thank you.

Thank you. Our last questions will be coming from David Joyce with Seaport Research Partners. Your line is open.

Thank you. A little bit more on the local language side. How do you expect the next couple of quarters to comp year-over-year with China box office and total local language box office versus the prior year? Overall for this year, do you expect local language to be able to grow versus 2025, or are the couple of really big titles last year a little bit too much of that hurdle?

Hi, David. I think our local language underpinnings are strong. I mean, the rest of world, our local language has continued to increase over the last few years. Of course, last year was very strong with the Ne Zha 2 effect. If you actually take out China, you can see that our local language is growing, and even this year we expect it to continue to grow. There's a lot of diverse content where within the past year, we've done nine new countries, like local language coming from nine new countries. Actually, this quarter, we had our first Taiwanese title as well.

I think that there's a lot of opportunity, but I think what's even more important is that with the Hollywood slate, it is making sure you have the right mix to make sure that we, you know, penetrate into the right markets with the right type of film. If Hollywood is going to do better for a particular period, we will lean in in that. If it's not, then we'll lean in on the local language, and that's what's great about all of the different pieces of content that we have and all of our content partners worldwide. With having over 60 content partners worldwide, you have the ability to lean into alternative content. We've been doing music films as well. We did EPiC this past quarter for Elvis, and we've done some other pieces of content.

We have the F1 races coming this weekend. You know, other opportunities of other local language that we've been doing. We've been doing a Japanese anime rollout as well, and in South Korea, been doing some content. I think our whole goal is to make sure we're doing a whole portfolio between our Hollywood local language and alternative content to make sure we're maximizing box office and leaning in. Even on that, like this past week, we did a fan-first event and brought back Speed Racer for our fans on a night or a couple of nights that we wouldn't have really had much box office brought in over $1 million. I think our whole goal is to look at utilization and maximizing box office, and we're highly focused on that.

Great. Thanks. If I could just tack on a short one. On the CapEx side, you invested $4 million in JV equipment this quarter. I think that was on maybe 11 installs. Is that a decent kind of ratio for future in JVs or, you know, how else would you think that investment might trend this year?

A little bit of timing plays in there, too, David. Sometimes we're investing this quarter, and it'll come through on a cash outflow. You know, we might have installed the system already in April, for instance, right? I think you just look at the average prices that we've kind of worked through before, and I think that's the better, best way to do it. You're right, like, looking at it from the installs is the first starting point and then kind of adding in a little bit for knowing that upcoming installations will happen, too.

But our whole goal this year, I mean, we've talked about even our CapEx for the year is somewhere between $30 million-$35 million and could be up by $10 million-$15 million just based on us investing in helping our exhibitors roll out faster as well. We do have a very strong balance sheet to be able to achieve that. In doing that, we'll be able to capture more box office as well.

Great. Thank you.

Thank you. I would like now to turn the call back over to Natasha for closing remarks.

Thank you again for joining us today. As you heard, we are hitting our stride at the right time and very bullish as we head into the summer blockbuster season. We've had strong year-over-year growth. We've already seen that in April with over $105 million achieved in April and over 15% growth year-on-year. The fact that we've seen a slew of recent hits outperform at the box office and that we're continuing to drive strong market share with a variety of audiences and genres, these are all great signs as we unveil one of our strongest slates in history and build on that to grow our network worldwide. We look forward to keeping you updated, and we'll talk to you soon. Thank you.

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.