Imax posted $28 million in box office over China’s latest Lunar New Year seven-day period, with the thriller Pegasus 3 leading the way with $24 million in tickets sales in its first week, the film technology company said on Monday.
That compared with Imax nabbing a record high of $53 million in box office over China’s Lunar New Year period in Feb. 2025 on $36 million in ticket sales for the animated blockbuster Ne Zha 2. That also followed Imax posting a previous Chinese New Year box office record of $34 million in 2023.
Director Han Han’s Pegasus 3 marks the fourth collaboration between Imax and the Chinese filmmaker, and to date has taken in $373 million in overall box office in China. “Our continued success with the Chinese New Year holiday underscores the diverse global breadth of our content portfolio — and our unique ability to create opportunity and generate results throughout the year,” Imax CEO Richard Gelfond said in a statement on Monday.
The latest Chinese New Year slate for Imax included Super Lion’s martial-arts actioner Blade of the Guardians earning $3.3 million, and Damai’s thriller Scare Out taking in another $500,000 across the holiday period. Imax and the Beijing film industry look to Lunar New Year holiday numbers as a bellwether for how box office in China may play out for the rest of the year.
Pegasus 3 will receive an exclusive North American Imax release starting Feb. 23 in select giant screen locations, ahead of UK, Australia and New Zealand play for the thriller. Imax China is a subsidiary of Toronto-based Imax and its shares trade on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.