'Game of Thrones' IMAX Showing Could Spawn New, Billion-Dollar Industry

Time Warner Inc TWX is bringing HBO's "Game of Thrones" to 150 IMAX Corporation IMAX theaters throughout the United States.

The deal provides a unique opportunity for viewers to watch the fourth season's final two episodes. HBO will also show an exclusive trailer for season five, sweetening the deal for those who may not want to pay extra for a show they typically watch on TV.

"Before now, nobody has gotten the rights to do TV in movie theaters," Albert Fried & Company analyst Rich Tullo told Benzinga.

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A Different Experience

Marc Berman, editor in chief of TV Media Insights, referred to "Game of Thrones" as an "epic program" with "epic storytelling."

"To see that in a theater is probably a very different experience [from] seeing it at home or on a mobile device," Berman told Benzinga. "It probably gives it a different feeling. I think it's an interesting idea. But then it begs the question: do you wanna pay for that? You're currently getting it. You're paying for HBO. Do you want to go to a theater and pay for it? That's the question."

Tullo thinks that consumers will pay to see it in theaters. He also believes that theaters could make a lot of money by showing an entire season of a popular show (such as "Breaking Bad") in one weekend.

"[They could] do what we call a 'binge festival,'" Tullo suggested. "I think some theaters can make a good living at charging $70 to $100 a ticket for people who want to binge-watch something like the whole season of 'Game of Thrones' over a whole weekend. You don't need a lot of people to make a lot of money with this."

$1 Billion To Be Made

Tullo thinks this concept could collectively add $1 billion in revenue to theaters, networks and studios. Berman doubts the concept will catch on, however.

"I don't think this is going to become a regular thing," said Berman. "I don't think it's going to become that popular that you're going to start seeing TV shows in various movie theaters. It's not going to happen. This is a test [and it] is probably the biggest show on the air at the moment that you could do this with."

While HBO might be able to profit from the theatrical release of "Game of Thrones," Berman does not think that other networks could do the same with their current lineup.

"Let's say NBC decides to put the season finale of 'The Blacklist' in IMAX," he theorized. "I don't think people are going to start running to theaters to pay for this because they can get it at home. They can get it on their mobile app. They don't have to pay for it."

Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this report.

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