IMAX is having one hell of a quarter this year, largely thanks to the box office performance of Alien: Romulus and Deadpool & Wolverine. Both films achieved big IMAX milestones recently, but Romulus gets bragging rights for the horror genre on the popular large format screens.
Per Deadline, Alien: Romulus is the highest-earning horror movie of all time in global IMAX grosses, with a take of $40 million. The film, originally intended for Hulu, carried a relatively slim $80 million budget and has so far turned that into a $101.8 million domestic gross and a staggering $331.5 million worldwide. For those keeping score at home, it has outgrossed the previous installment, Alien: Covenant, which brought in just $74.3 million domestically and $240.9 million worldwide. Prometheus remains the highest-grossing Alien film worldwide, with a total of $403.4 million at the global box office.
Deadpool & Wolverine Also Achieved an IMAX Milestone
Deadpool & Wolverine has also put in the work with the IMAX format. The lone MCU theatrical release of 2024 grossed $84 million in global IMAX money, making it the fifth highest-grossing Marvel entry in that format at the worldwide box office. Deadpool & Wolverine has been a true box office behemoth this year, grossing $622.5 million domestically and $1.3 billion worldwide. Even more impressive is that the film has remained in the box office top five since opening eight weeks ago, recently pulling in $5.2 million and placing third behind new releases Speak No Evil and the second weekend of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
IMAX has had a great year, kicking things off with Dune: Part Two grossing over $100 million worldwide on their large-format screens. That’s an impressive figure added to the film’s $711.8 million worldwide total. IMAX has proven time and time again to be an ideal format for moviegoing, especially when a film is shot for that purpose, making it a truly visual and sensory experience that moviegoers will pay the extra amount for to see a film look and sound its best.
Due to the performance of Alien: Romulus and Deadpool & Wolverine, IMAX had one of their best third quarters at the global box office, with a take of $225 million worldwide in the format. Their dominance should continue with even more releases that are set to push the limits of the format, including Joker: Folie à Deux and Venom: The Last Dance this October, and Gladiator II, Wicked, Moana 2, Mufasa: The Lion King, and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 to close out November and December.
