IMAX, 4DX and the battle to bring audiences back to cinemas

As Bangladesh looks to modernise its cinema halls and bring audiences back to theatres, the global race to make moviegoing more immersive offers a glimpse of what that revival could look like.

On October 12, State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Yasser Khan Choudhury said the government was working on coordinated initiatives to develop the film industry, modernise cinema halls and attract audiences back.

Internationally, cinema operators are experimenting with more immersive experiences to answer a central question: what can theatres offer that home screens cannot?

South Korea's CJ 4DPLEX has developed 4DX, a format that uses moving seats and effects such as wind, mist and smoke to make viewers feel closer to the action. Its other format, ScreenX, extends images onto the side walls to create a 270-degree viewing experience.

The effects make the movies feel real.

“When characters are caught in a storm, I can feel the wind. When they're racing, it feels like I'm riding with them,” Kim So-jeong, a South Korean moviegoer told Nikkei Asia. “The moving seats and other effects help me stay engaged and make the movie feel more alive.”

She does not mind that 4DX charges up to 50% more than regular screenings.

“I used to wonder why people watched the same movie twice,” she said. “But 4DX is so much fun that I'll often go back, and sometimes I even catch details I missed the first time because there's so much going on.”

IMAX, meanwhile, has built its appeal around giant screens, high-resolution images and powerful sound.

The two compete for a growing market of moviegoers willing to pay extra for a more immersive theatrical experience.

The stakes are significant.

Global cinema ticket sales were estimated at $33.55 billion in 2025, 20.7% below the pre-pandemic level in 2019, according to industry data service Gower Street Analytics, cited by Nikkei Asia.

Yet premium formats like 4DX and IMAX have proved more resilient. In North America, they accounted for about 15% of box-office receipts in 2025, compared with around 5% in 2014 and 10% in 2019, industry observers told Nikkei.

CJ 4DPLEX had installed its proprietary formats on 1,281 screens across 75 countries by September, about 25% more than in 2019.

South Korea’s government announced a planned investment of 220 billion won ($163.9 million) in the company in August, partly to help expand its global network to 2,000 installations.

“When moviegoers have decided to go to the movies, they feel a clear sense of consumer expectation that they need to truly experience something meaningful,” CJ 4DPLEX Chief Financial Officer Choi Myoung-ju told Nikkei.