Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS | DIS Price Prediction) film Avengers: Doomsday arrives in theaters around Christmas time, and it is losing IMAX screens to Dune: Part Three, a film shot on IMAX cameras. Disney answered with Infinity Vision, its own premium big-screen brand. Shareholders of IMAX (NYSE:IMAX) now have a new competitor to account for.
On the October 16 episode of Barron’s Streetwise, host Jack Hough gave Disney’s plan four shumps on his disruption scorecard, out of a possible five. His summary: “On paper, this plan looks like gold.”
How IMAX Earns Twice From Scarce Screens
Hough’s argument starts with shortage. IMAX screens “fetch premium prices,” he said, but “there aren’t enough IMAX theaters to go around.” He said IMAX “has used this shortage to favor films that were shot using its cameras. That’s another way it makes money. And effectively here it’s double dipping on fees.”
In plain terms, IMAX makes money from the theater systems it places with exhibitors and again from the camera technology filmmakers shoot on. The model has been working. IMAX set a record of $1.28B in global box office in 2025 and took a record 3.8% of global box office. On the July 23 earnings call, CEO Rich Gelfond said The Odyssey drew 20% of its worldwide opening from IMAX on less than 1% of total screens. He also asked a question that bears directly on Disney: “Could Avengers have dated differently than right on top of Dune?”
Disney Lines Up Rival Studios Behind Infinity Vision
Disney launched Infinity Vision as a certification for premium large-format theaters. Hough said it announced this month that “a host of big studios are on board. We’re talking Universal, Paramount, Sony and others.” As a test, Disney re-released the 2019 Avengers film in the format. Hough said the re-release “did a big enough number to nudge it ahead of Avatar as the top seller ever. That’s a catalog film making good money in theaters.”
Disney has the slate to support the effort. Entertainment segment operating income rose 64% to $1.68B in fiscal Q3, and CEO Josh D’Amaro said on the August call that “audiences will turn out in force for great theatrical experiences.”
Theaters Already Own the Screens Disney Wants
Many chains already run premium screens that carry no IMAX branding. Hough said those brands are ones “no one really recognizes. There’s AMC Prime and Cinemark XD.” Disney’s plan renames those auditoriums as Infinity Vision with better marketing, so studios and theaters keep higher cuts. In Hough’s words: “Disney’s plan looks cheap for theaters and for studios, and just a thread of it could keep IMAX in check on fees.”
Why Barron’s Held Back One Shump
On Barron’s Streetwise, Hough took off one shump “only because no one has really done much of anything yet.” Audio producer Emily Sumlin supported the high opening score: “Like every good movie, your first week should be the biggest at the box office. So let’s start big.”
IMAX has a response. Gelfond said The Odyssey proved that “knockoffs and marketing gimmicks won’t cut it.” The company repeated guidance for $1.4B in 2026 global box office and has a backlog of 421 systems.
What Disney and IMAX Shareholders Should Track Next
IMAX closed at $50.86 on October 16, up 37.5% year to date and 61.03% over one year. Hough said on the Barron’s podcast that IMAX stock is down 8% from its late September peak, and shares fell 5.96% from September 21 through October 16. Fundamentals remain strong: Q2 adjusted EPS of $0.43 exceeded the $0.27 consensus, and adjusted EBITDA margin reached 46.6%, according to its Q2 2026 earnings release. For a company with a market cap of roughly $2.79B, any pressure on fees would hit harder than it would at Disney.
Disney closed at $110.56, up 2.35% over the past week and down 2.04% year to date, at a P/E of about 15. For Disney, Infinity Vision gives it a way to win back premium screens for its own films, which matters to an Entertainment segment guided to double-digit OI growth this fiscal year.
The key question is how Avengers: Doomsday plays across premium screens in December, and which theater chains formally adopt the Infinity Vision label. Broad adoption by exhibitors would give Hough’s missing shump a reason to come back.