Are people willing to leave their couch when the big-screen experience feels worth it? As the streaming-versus-theatrical debate grows louder than ever, 2025 has been a crucial year, with multiple major films opting for theatrical releases. And these movies’ performance on IMAX seems to hint at something bigger than this debate.

Despite ongoing questions about the future of theaters, IMAX appears to have a convincing answer after its $1.2 billion success, thanks to five of the top-performing films of 2025.

Stepping into 2026, IMAX reported a global box office gross of $1.28 billion. This is a 40 percent jump in box office revenue compared to 2024. The company also saw a 14 percent increase in the USA over the previous record set in 2023, grossing $449 million. Notably, this success was driven by some of the most unexpected films of the year.

Ne Zha 2, a Chinese film, grossed $166.7 million, with most of its earnings coming from outside North America. Avatar: Fire and Ash racked up $112 million and continues to add to its total, with the potential to surpass Ne Zha 2 soon. Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, which enjoys massive popularity worldwide, earned $720 million globally and pulled in $95.9 million from IMAX screens alone.

Meanwhile, F1: The Movie brought in $97.6 million, while Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning earned $75.8 million per IMAX. The success of these movies shows that there are viewers who prefer theatrical releases, no matter how accessible OTT has become; people will still pay for the experience.

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With such strong performances, 2025 was an incredible year for IMAX, and the momentum is expected to continue as Avatar: Fire and Ash keeps setting new records. The film made history for the company upon its debut, setting new records in the process.

Apart from the billions worth of success and James Cameron's fourth consecutive film to enter the $1 billion club, Avatar: Fire and Ash helped IMAX make a massive $43.6 million global opening weekend. This was the biggest opening of 2025 and the fifth-largest debut in IMAX history. Despite accounting for less than 1% of total screens worldwide, IMAX had an impressive 12.6% of the film’s total global opening.

International markets played a major role in the film’s IMAX success, contributing $30.6 million to the opening weekend total. This is the third-highest international IMAX opening ever. In China, Avatar: Fire and Ash made $13.5 million in IMAX alone, and that number is 23% of the film’s total opening weekend revenue in the country. 

Now, these numbers show that while there is a shift in viewers due to streaming, the appeal for theatrical release is still present. And if this success is any indication, people are not leaving movie theaters anytime soon. 

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What is your take on this debate? Let us know in the comments section below.