Disney’s Infinity Vision Aims to Boost an Imax-Less ‘Avengers Doomsday.’ ‘Endgame Encore’ Showed It’s Working

In December, "Avengers: Doomsday" will be released without the support of Imax screenings, which previously helped boost the box office performance of "Avengers: Endgame." To counter this loss, Disney has introduced Infinity Vision, a certification and promotion program aimed at guiding moviegoers to studio-approved premium formats.

Launched at CinemaCon in April, Infinity Vision gained its first success with "Avengers: Endgame Encore," which earned $26 million in its opening weekend, with 52% of ticket sales coming from premium formats promoted through the program. With 70% of the $50 million-plus in presales for "Avengers: Doomsday" coming from these premium formats, Disney is hoping to capitalize on this trend.

Disney's decision to move "Doomsday" from May 2026 to December was driven by the need for more time to complete the massive crossover film, forcing them to forgo Imax support. This move demonstrates the influence of Imax among moviegoers and presents an opportunity for exhibitors to promote other premium formats. The standards for the Infinity Vision program include a screen width of at least 45 feet, a 7.1 surround sound system, and a projector brightness of at least 14 foot-lamberts for non-3D projectors.

Some of the top non-Imax PLFs, such as Dolby Cinema, 4DX, ScreenX, and D-Box, as well as theater chain formats like Classic Cinemas' XQ, are already cleared for the program. Classic Cinemas and Cinemark, two major theater chains, are eager to participate in Infinity Vision, with Classic Cinemas launching its XQ format in 2019 and Cinemark upgrading approximately 200 of its auditoriums to XD auditoriums in preparation for "Avengers: Doomsday."