Who owns IMAX?
IMAX is owned by IMAX Corporation (Canada, NYSE: IMAX).[1]
Evidence: IMAX Corporation Annual Report on Form 10-K filed 2026-02-25, SEC EDGAR, 25 February 2026. Verified from filings; last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- IMAX Corporation verified
- Owner HQ
- 🇨🇦 Canada, Mississauga, Ontario
- Origin
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- Founded
- 1967
- Category
- Media & entertainment › Live & sport › Cinema chains
- Parent ticker
- NYSE: IMAX
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About IMAX
IMAX is a large-format cinema system: the cameras, the remastering process, the projectors and the sound, sold or leased as a package to cinema chains that then advertise the screen under the IMAX name. The company behind it owns just one of the 1,864 locations operating at the end of 2025; the rest belong to exhibitors in 91 countries and territories. In 2025 films shown in the format took a record $1.28 billion at the box office worldwide.
Ownership timeline of IMAX
Where IMAX sits in IMAX
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
- IMAX
- IMAX China (71.57%)
- IMAX Enhanced
Open the full IMAX ownership tree →
See the full IMAX brand portfolio (3) →
Other brands owned by IMAX
IMAX controls 3 brands on Brandtree, 2 of them in media & entertainment.
Also in media & entertainment
Other brands in cinema chains, and who owns them
The 23 brands in cinema chains on Brandtree belong to 9 owners. The largest is CJ CGV, with 7; IMAX has 2.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| 4DX | CJ CGV | 🇰🇷 South Korea |
| Emagine Entertainment | Kinepolis | 🇧🇪 Belgium |
| Century Theatres | Cinemark | 🇺🇸 United States |
| AMC Theatres | AMC Theatres | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Cineplex | Cineplex | 🇨🇦 Canada |
| VOX Cinemas | Majid Al Futtaim | 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates |
| T-Joy | Toei | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| TOHO CINEMAS | TOHO | 🇯🇵 Japan |
About the owner: IMAX
IMAX is a publicly listed company headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, founded in 1967. Brandtree records 3 brands under its control, and it is listed as NYSE: IMAX.
IMAX Corporation is a Canadian company, with principal offices in Mississauga, Ontario and in New York, whose predecessor was incorporated in 1967. It is not a cinema operator: it owns only one of the locations in its network and instead sells or leases its projection and sound systems to exhibitors, together with a licence to use the IMAX name, and takes a share of the box office for remastering films into its format. At the end of 2025 there were 1,864 IMAX systems operating in 91 countries and territories, 810 of them in Greater China, where the business is run through a Hong Kong-listed subsidiary.
🇨🇦 IMAX and other Canadian brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 174 brands that began in Canada. 41 of them (24%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country; IMAX is not one of them.
- Canada's Wonderland — Six Flags 🇺🇸
- Cineplex — Cineplex 🇨🇦
- CuriousCast — Corus 🇨🇦
- Degrassi — WildBrain 🇨🇦
- Landmark Cinemas — Kinepolis 🇧🇪
- Lionsgate Films — Lionsgate 🇨🇦
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of IMAX?
The parent company of IMAX is IMAX Corporation, a publicly listed company headquartered in Canada.
Is IMAX Canadian?
Yes. IMAX originated in Canada in 1967 and its owner, IMAX Corporation, is also headquartered in Canada.
Is IMAX still owned by IMAX Corporation?
Yes. As of 4 October 2026, IMAX is still owned by IMAX Corporation. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (1) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] IMAX Corporation Annual Report on Form 10-K filed 2026-02-25 — SEC EDGAR, SEC Form 10-K, published 25 February 2026; retrieved 4 October 2026.
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