There were tanking box-office numbers and shuttered theatres. There were Hollywood strikes. There was even Harold and the Purple Crayon.
But alongside what looked like a cratering movie industry during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was actually a stunning ray of hope. Imax, the Canadian-created and owned technology, has been exploding in popularity, especially as dwindling attendance has spurred fears of audiences never returning to theatres.
It’s part of a longer, but steady process that has, over the decades, turned the brand into a sort of certificate of quality for audiences, and an obsession of studios.
“We ‘event-asize’ movies,” said Mark Welton, president of Imax Theatres. “People want to shoot their movies in Imax … because it means that it’s a quality movie. It’s a big blockbuster.”
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