A view shows the brand of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, in Paris, France, March 19, 2024.
Benoit Tessier | Reuters
Most of the world’s best athletes will make their big-screen debut in IMAX theaters this summer.
NBC announced Friday that its live coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony on July 26 will play on greater than 150 IMAX screens within the U.S.
The Summer Olympics opening ceremony can be the primary not held in a stadium. As an alternative, organizers will send Olympians down the River Seine on a four-mile-long flotilla of nearly 100 boats past iconic sites in Paris.
Ticket prices for the IMAX screenings weren’t immediately available.
“We sit up for providing our Opening Ceremony coverage to audiences at IMAX locations across the country, sharing on this historic moment because the world regathers to witness the spectacular starting of 16 days of athletic greatness against the backdrop of probably the most beautiful cities on the planet,” Gary Zenkel, president of NBC Olympics, said in an announcement.
The live programming follows the successful run of Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment’s “Dune: Part Two” in IMAX locations. IMAX has posted global box-office receipts of $103 million for the film, accounting for about 20% of the movie’s total worldwide haul while representing lower than 1% of screens, based on a recent report from Eric Wold, an analyst at B. Riley.
Special, limited-time programming resembling the Summer Olympics coverage could drive moviegoers to IMAX. Once they’re there, trailers and advertisements for other movies or special events could lure them back again. IMAX tickets also carry a premium price higher than that of a standard movie ticket.
IMAX stock has climbed nearly 6% 12 months up to now, last trading at just below $16 a share. Nonetheless, most analysts think the stock is undervalued. Wold’s price goal is $25 a share, just above the analyst average of $21.60, based on FactSet.
Wold said the present price “doesn’t give IMAX any credit” for the undeniable fact that its box office is predicted to be flat compared with 2023, while the remainder of the industry is predicted to say no. He also said IMAX is the “only company on this universe” that’s projected to generate adjusted earnings in 2025 that top 2019 levels.
“We consider that it’s price a premium,” he said.
The opening ceremony can even be shown on NBC and Peacock.
Programming note: IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond can be on CNBC’s “Power Lunch” at 2 p.m. ET on Friday.
Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder to all Summer and Winter Games through 2032.