Revenues fell and costs rose at Imax during its second quarter, sending the wide-screen exhibitor deeper into the red, though its top brass says the Imax version of The Dark Knight and the rollout of new digital systems should improve things next quarter and in 2009.

The Toronto company lost US$12.1 million or 29 cents per share for the period ending June 30, down sharply from a loss of US$4.5 million or 11 cents per share for the same period last year, according to numbers released on Thursday.

Revenue, including that from Imax systems and films, sank to US$21.2 million from US$27.1 million, while costs rose slightly to US$15.3 million from US$14.8 million.

But according to co-chairmen and co-CEOs Richard Gelfond and Bradley Wechsler, the numbers ‘do not yet reflect the pieces being put in place that should return IMAX to profitability’ in 2009.

The company is partway through installing some 50 new digital systems in theaters — a few have already gone into AMC locations in and around Washington, DC — which stands to cut film costs and almost double the number of titles, to between 10 and 12, seen per year in Imax theaters.

In the short term, Gelfond and Wechsler expect the books to be buoyed by the Imax version of the new Batman movie, which arrived with a record-setting splash in July.

‘We believe The Dark Knight: The IMAX Experience, combined with strength of our second half film slate, should offset much of the softness of our year-to-date IMAX DMR film performance,’ said the execs in a statement.

The second quarter saw wide-screen versions of Speed Racer and Kung Fu Panda, among others.