IMAX ticket sales exceed expectations

Box Office numbers are not yet available, but word is ticket sales for the IMAX screenings of Season 4’s last two episodes, “Watchers on the Wall/The Children” has exceeded industry expectations.

According to EW.com, the people at IMAX only expected an initial burst of fan interest when tickets went on sale. Then they would “hit the wall” and decline….Sources say an average weekend take for an IMAX theater is $4000-$5000 per screen, but Thrones is tracking like it’s going to easily exceed that.”

More after the jump….

EW goes on to say that IMAX originally decided to book Game of Thrones in their theaters, a first for any TV show, because this was a “slow time of year.”

Foster said he had an instinct the acclaimed fantasy hit would perform well. “We announced this and our website crashed,” Foster said. “As soon as that happened, my instinct didn’t matter; [the interest] became empirical. Then a week later, we announced we were moving the date to accommodate more theaters, and the website crashed again—twice. So that was a pretty good indication.”

I see where IMAX is coming from. After all, this is, on paper, a glorified television rerun, airing on Super Bowl weekend. But Game of Thrones has one of the strongest fan bases of any show on television, and these are two of the best episodes of the fourth season. That’s enough for a good showing–add in the Season 5 trailer and it’s a great showing.

Personally, I know I’m not all that surprised that ticket sales have not hit the wall, partly due to the rollout of the theaters. I live in a major market, but the day tickets went on sale, the closest theater to me that was showing it was actually the next state over, 40 miles away. It wasn’t until a couple of days later that a showing within a reasonable distance was even added to the list.

• Published on 01/28/2015 at 8:00 AM CDT
• Last updated on 10/21/2016 at 1:06 PM CDT