because Disney's Avatar Fire and Ash bringing in about $90 million over the weekend in the domestic box office. That was lower than analysts expected about halfway between the first and second film's openings, but this one did much better for IMAX, delivering the biggest opening weekend of the year, fifth biggest in IMAX history, according to the company. Stock is up 46% so far this year.Joining me now is IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond. Richard, it's great to have you on. >> Nice to be with you, Morgan.So, so we ...

Box Office Performance - Disney's "Avatar: Fire and Ash" opened with $88 million domestically, falling short of expectations of $110 million to $125 million [1] - The film's global opening weekend total reached an estimated $345 million, with $257 million coming from international markets [2] - Approximately 5.2 million domestic moviegoers attended the opening weekend, a decline from 8.7 million for "The Way of Water" [3] Comparison with Previous Installments - "Avatar: The Way of Water" grossed $134 million in its opening weekend in 2022, while the original "Avatar" made $77 million in its opening weekend but went on to earn $2.9 billion globally [1][3] - "The Way of Water" ran for 23 weeks and grossed $2.3 billion globally, indicating a trend of long box office runs for the franchise [4] Factors Influencing Performance - The film's over-three-hour runtime and reduced pent-up demand compared to previous releases were noted as challenges [2] - Analysts pointed out that "Fire and Ash" lacks the technological innovation that drove ticket sales for earlier films in the franchise [2] - Premium large-format ticket sales, including IMAX and Dolby, accounted for 66% of the weekend total, indicating strong performance in experiential formats [5] International Market Dynamics - While 3D films have seen a decline in domestic popularity, they remain favored internationally, particularly in markets like China [6]