Source: BBC News via Indian Economic Business News
With 689 movie theatres in 52 countries, the large-screen cinema operator Imax has emerged as a truly global player in the world of films. The Canadian company has yet to conquer India, home to the world’s second largest film industry after Hollywood. More than a decade after first entering India, there are still just four Imax theatres in India. And even as the company guns for growth, their number is expected to barely hit double digits by the end of this year. Mr Gelfond said it is difficult to compete in a country with as strong a cinema culture as India’s In India, Bollywood films that are often low-budget are shown all over the country, often in small, local cinemas where tickets cost $2-3. This makes it much harder to sell an altogether different entertainment proposition that costs five times as much or more, he says. Imax’s latest India strategy is much more comprehensive than its previous ones. At its core is a partnership with Bollywood production company Yash Raj Films Studios to shoot Dhoom 3 in the Imax format, in an effort to build on the success of blockbusters Dhoom and Dhoom 2.