'SUPERMAN,' 'POSEIDON' SET FOR IMAX FIRM'S Q3 EARNINGS BELOW EXPECTATIONS.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

On a day that its third-quarter earnings fell short of Wall Street estimates, IMAX Corp. said Thursday that it will be releasing the Warner Bros. films ``Superman Returns'' and ``The Poseidon Adventure'' on its giant screens next year the same day they debut in regular theaters.

Canada-based IMAX reported net income of $2.3 million, or 5 cents a share, up 27 percent from a year ago while revenue rose to $33.4 million, up 5 percent from 2004's third quarter.

Despite those increases, Wall Street had been expecting earnings of 7 cents per share and revenue of nearly $36 million. Following the earnings announcement, IMAX shares fell 97 cents, or 10.97 percent to close at $8.02 on Nasdaq.

But the company's mood was still upbeat as IMAX extended its alliance with Warner Bros. on ``Superman'' and ``Poseidon.''

``Warner Bros. Pictures has a special expertise in developing groundbreaking tent-pole films, and we're thrilled to partner with the studio again on a picture expected to be one of the biggest of 2006,'' said Greg Foster, chairman and president of IMAX Filmed Entertainment.

Such Warner Bros. releases as ``The Polar Express,'' ``Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,'' ``Batman Begins,'' ``The Matrix Reloaded'' and the ``Harry Potter'' franchise have all seen multimillion-dollar boosts to their box office returns by being released, sometimes simultaneously, on giant IMAX screens.

``It seems to be good for both companies,'' said Brandon Gray, president of Box Office Mojo. ``IMAX boosted 'The Polar Express' and a number of other Warner Bros. pictures.''

``Express'' was off to a sluggish box office start a year ago but ended up being a major hit, partly due to the popularity of the IMAX 3-D version of the film, which grossed $45 million worldwide. ``Polar'' ended up grossing $160 million domestically.

The IMAX version of ``Batman Begins'' contributed nearly $17 million to the $205 million gross and about $15 million to the $204.5 million earned by ``Charlie.'' Both films were 2-D releases.

On Nov. 19, the companies will team for ``Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.'' They had previously announced the November 2006 release of ``Happy Feet,'' an animated musical comedy about a tap-dancing emperor penguin's adventures in the Antarctic.

The movies are remastered for the giant screen with IMAX's DMR process, which allows a movie to be enlarged for an eight-story-high, 120-foot-wide screen.

``Superman'' will be released June 30, 2006, and is the long-awaited resumption of a franchise made popular by Christopher Reeve in the title role. ``Poseidon'' is a re-envisioning of the 1972 adventure classic about a luxury ocean liner that capsizes from a colossal tidal wave. It is set for release on May 12, 2006.

```Poseidon' is going to be a major release for us in the international marketplace next year,'' said Veronika Kwan-Rubinek, president of International Distribution at Warner Bros. Pictures. ``We believe it's exactly the type of film that audiences will respond to in IMAX's dramatic large-scale presentation.''

IMAX Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs Richard L. Gelfond and Bradley J. Wechsler said Thursday that assembling Warner Bros. titles and other commercial films is helping drive the expansion of the IMAX theater network. There are now 259 IMAX theaters in 36 countries, 60 percent of which are located in North America.

``Warner Bros. Pictures does a fantastic job of integrating us into their marketing efforts and fully 'eventizes' its IMAX releases, and we look forward to continuing our great partnership,'' they said in a statement.

Greg Hernandez, [phone]

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com