First AVATAR, now Disney's "Alice" Wins Big for IMAX (NASDAQ:IMAX),(NYSE:DIS)

IMAX Corp. (NASDAQ:IMAX) shares lost some steam this week but there may be yet another reason to rejoice -- Walt Disney Company's (NYSE:DIS) new movie 'Alice in Wonderland'. 

For Disney it's a weekend take of $116 million and $11.9 million was thanks to IMAX screens.

Imax 3-D has been kicking ass this year.  Alice topped Avatar as the all-time biggest opener in the stereoptic format. "It also shattered Avatar's recently set IMAX record," the industry web site The Wrap reported, "selling out each of the 188 digital 3-D outlets on the way to a weekend total of $11.9 million."

This is what IMAX shareholders were hoping for after the stock took a dive from $14 to $12.75 this past week after an analyst said No. 2 theater chain AMC Entertainment will roll out its own oversized format called ETX in the U.S., which could hurt Imax's revenue.

Eric Wold, an analyst with Merriman Curhan Ford, wrote in a research note that AMC Entertainment has now opened an "Enhanced Theater Experience," or ETX, screen at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., after testing the system in Canada.

Three more of AMC's ETX theaters are coming soon to Dallas, Los Angeles and Burbank, Calif., he said, citing the company's Web site.

Rich Gelfond, the chief executive of Imax, responded to the report Wednesday, saying that AMC's ETX screen was put in at Walt Disney World because the theater there didn't fit Imax specifications.

"We're picky about the locations we go into and have provide the Imax experience," Gelfond said in an interview. "My conversations with AMC executives today have reinforced that this is a complementary strategy to Imax, not a competitive strategy."

But the move comes on top of No. 3 theater chain Cinemark Holdings Inc. developing its own large-screen format called Cinemark XD. Cinemark operates 16 Cinemark XD screens and plans to open 30 to 40 more this year.

Hold tight IMAX shareholders, the company will hold its quarterly conference call to discuss fourth quarter 2009 financial results on Thursday, March 11, 2010, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. IMAX closed Friday at $13.72 a share and YTD in 2010 the stock is up 3%.