The blockbuster biopic ‘Oppenheimer’ has been a success in the box office and for the future of IMAX.

The film technology company recently reported second-quarter revenue had climbed 30 per cent year-over-year and CEO Rich Gelfond now hopes Oppenheimer will spring board the firm to further success.

“We’ve been very involved in the movie, whether it’s been part of the marketing, or part of the image capture or part of the image projection,” he told BNN Bloomberg. “It’s been a great partnership.”

Gelfond said Oppenheimer is its fourth-fastest film to reach US$80 million, behind only ‘Avatar,’ ‘Avengers: Endgame’ and ‘Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens.’

“Who would’ve thought a movie about Robert Oppenheimer would have that kind of remarkable result,” he said.

Gelfond said Oppenheimer could have what he called “the Avatar effect,” meaning a boom in business following the success of the 2009 film. 

“It really jump started a lot of our business,” he said. “Our signings went up, our installs went up, our network grew, more films came in and actually ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ opened earlier this year and we saw the same impact.”

IMAX has a unique business model in the film industry. It licenses the film technology to movie theatres and then takes about 18 per cent of box office revenue from IMAX screenings.

The enhanced experience is growing in popularity as well. Gelfond said the streaming giants are realizing the value of theatres and partnering for an IMAX theatrical release.

“We see the streamers as a new source of supply,” he said. “Not every streamer is on board for that, but the majority are and we think that’s going to create more momentum in our business.”