Is Sydney getting a second IMAX screen thanks to Hoyts?

• Hoyts has teamed up with IMAX to open more IMAX cinema screens across Australia.
• IMAX Sydney is one of the most successful big screens in the world, so opening more makes sense for the global company.
• Both EVT and Hoyts will team with IMAX to open more screens in the next few years.
• READ MORE: Is Opera Australia playing it safe? Chooses ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ for Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour 2026.

It’s a mighty impressive fact that, out of the 1,800 screens owned and operated by IMAX across the world, IMAX Sydney is a top-performer.

The supersized cinema was a major fixture for Sydney’s entertainment scene from 1996 to 2016, dominating the box office for 20 years before shuttering for renovations. Initial plans had IMAX Sydney reopening in 2019, but major delays to the construction of Darling Harbour’s avant-garde The Ribbon building, which is sandwiched between two Western Distributor overpasses and hosts the 585-room W Sydney, swelled the reopening date to October 11, 2023.

Now with two years under its belt, the new IMAX Sydney is once again reigning supreme at the Box Office, with the 325-seat cinema so successful it’s become the screen company’s third highest earner. In just two years, it’s performance has been “wildly above our expectations,” according to IMAX Global Chief Sales Officer, Giovanni Dolci.

Coupled with the success of IMAX Melbourne, which is owned by Museums Victoria and is the seventh best performing IMAX theatre in the world, it looks like Australia’s appetite for big, spectacular cinema-going experiences is growing. IMAX has the perfect response; build more, and they will come.

How many more, you ask? Shortly after reopening IMAX Sydney, the company stated its intention on having close to 40 screens in Australia within the next five years, starting with the major cities and then sprinkling into smaller enclaves.

IMAX Sydney is owned by IMAX by operated by EVT, Australia’s biggest cinema operator most known for its brand, Event Cinemas, as well as boutique luxury hotel chain QT Hotels & Resorts.

But recent news suggests IMAX is working with Australia’s other big cinema operator, Hoyts, in order to launch five new IMAX screens in Australia, including one at Melbourne Central, by the end of 2025.

Will Sydney be getting a new IMAX cinema, or two?

It’s only been two years since IMAX Sydney reopened and, as above, its success isn’t up for debate. It seems a bit too ambitious that Sydney have more than one IMAX theatre, but with Melbourne set for a second opening, it’s highly likely the harbour city will be seeing a similar spread of IMAX screens arriving in existing cinemas.

EVT has already announced that it’s working with IMAX to introduce four new IMAX sites in the next few years. Now with Hoyts on the trail, IMAX’s footprint is going to be ramping up considerably in a country that’s given the super-sized cinema a warm embrace as the tide continues to swing against the monopoly home streaming services have over screen-based entertainment.

“Hoyts is delighted to partner with IMAX again,” said Hoyts Group CEO and President Damien Keogh.

“Our foundation site at Melbourne Central will be open for Avatar: Fire and Ash, with more sites to be announced shortly.”

James Cameron’s ambitious Avatar: Fire and Ash, the third movie in the blockbuster franchise, is scheduled for released in Australia on December 18, 2025. Hoyts seems mighty confident that IMAX Melbourne Central will be open by then, so I think it’s safe to expect at least one new IMAX in Australia by the end of the year. The rest should follow shortly after, assuming IMAX wants to get their increased Australian presence locked in for the next few years of blockbuster and box office hopefuls.

The new Hoyts-operated IMAX theatres will all use cutting-edge laser technology so viewers can enjoy 4K images displayed via an optical engine with custom-designed lenses. This means the screen is able to showcase a wider range of colours than your standard cinema screen, enhanced by precision audio to really suck viewers into whatever they are watching at the time.

“Australia continues to be a priority for IMAX, and this agreement with Hoyts Cinemas to expand and diversify our footprint is just the latest sign of our strong momentum in this thriving moviegoing market,” said IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond.

With both Hoyts and EVT working with IMAX to introduce more of these screens around the country, I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw at least 3-4 super-sized cinemas pop up in Sydney alone within the next few years.

Despite the current IMAX Sydney being one of the most impressive iterations of the format to date, it still lacks the punch of IMAX Melbourne. Sydney’s biggest rival boasts a larger screen (736 metres, versus our 692 metres) and it can also screen IMAX 1570 Film, which is the format that directors like Christopher Nolan prefer (which is why watching Oppenheimer in Melbourne was a more true-to-concept experience than watching it in Sydney). Hopefully, a new Sydney IMAX screen makes up for the Darling Harbour site’s limited function.

I’ve included a video below in case you’d like to learn more about the difference between IMAX 1570 film and standard IMAX film.