IMAX’s Record $1.28 Billion 2025 Was Powered by a Chinese Epic, an Anime, and a Streaming Movie

What are the films that demand to be seen on the biggest screen possible? Does Hollywood know what an event film looks like? A look at IMAX‘s 2025 box office suggests the definition of what thrives on IMAX screens could be evolving.

IMAX on Wednesday reported that it grossed $1.28 billion at the global box office in 2025, a record year for the company in terms of box office revenue, up 40 percent from 2024. In fact, IMAX’s 2025 was 13 percent better than pre-pandemic 2019, another feather in the cap that while the overall box office hasn’t recovered to those old levels, IMAX has had no trouble recovering and growing. In the U.S., IMAX grossed $449 million, which was a 14 percent increase from its prior record in 2023. It also set similar records in China and the rest of the world, and it did it with IMAX’s largest ever slate of 122 new releases.

But the top 5 movies released on IMAX screens may not be what you expect. Among them are a Chinese film that made virtually all of its gross outside of the U.S., a Japanese anime film, and a movie that was ultimately made for streaming. See the top 5 below:

1. “Ne Zha 2” (Enlight) — $166.7 million
2. “Avatar: Fire and Ash” (Disney/20th Century Studios) — $112 million
3. “F1: The Movie” (Apple Films) — $97.6 million
4. “Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle” (Toho) — $95.9 million
5. “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” (Paramount) – $75.8 million

“Ne Zha 2” is one of those titles designed to stump people at pub trivia when asked to name the biggest animated film of all time, as very few people in North America have seen it. Globally the film made $2.2 billion, but just $23 million (nothing to sneeze at!), or 1 percent of its overall gross, came from an English-language dub back in August. Its IMAX haul actually seems low compared to the huge share IMAX usually accounts for when it comes to the box office of some of these movies.

“Avatar: Fire and Ash” was a late December release, and through January 4 it’s actually already made $140 million from IMAX and will easily surpass “Ne Zha 2” when all is said and done. The original “Avatar” remains IMAX’s most successful release ever.

But the others may be a little surprising. “F1” had a healthy theatrical window that Apple isn’t likely to offer again, earning $631 million worldwide, but it was ultimately destined to land on Apple TV+. Director Joseph Kosinski’s racing movie however, like “Top Gun Maverick” before it, was a “Filmed for IMAX” release, and knowing that a movie specifically used IMAX cameras has proven to be a unique selling point among audiences.

For “Demon Slayer,” that film led a sensational year for Sony’s anime label Crunchyroll, as “Infinity Castle” made $720 million worldwide, proving that the anime genre isn’t as niche as you might imagine. And “Mission: Impossible,” that movie depended on IMAX to be a hit. Domestically, more than 20 percent of its opening weekend figure came from IMAX screens, and the $75.8 million it made globally was 12.6 percent of its worldwide total of $598 million.

“2025 was truly a transformational year for IMAX in which we leveled up our performance across our business — capturing a greater share of total box office with a wider variety of releases across an expanding global footprint,” said Rich Gelfond, CEO of IMAX. “We see no signs of slowing down given a very promising slate ahead and the consistency of our market share gains, as filmmakers, studios, and audiences worldwide continue to gravitate toward the IMAX Experience.”

IMAX is projecting to hit $1.4 billion in 2026 and set yet another record. Among the movies it hopes land are 12 different movies that were all Filmed for IMAX, including Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” Jon Favreau’s “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu,” Greta Gerwig’s “Narnia,” and Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Three.”