Segment Reporting - Breakdown of Segment Reporting Information by Category (Parenthetical) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2021	Mar. 31, 2020
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Percentage of total revenues represented by largest customer	31.20%	14.40%
Percentage of accounts receivable represented by largest customer	15.90%
IMAX DMR [Member]
Segment Reporting (Textual) [Abstract]
Marketing costs (recovery)	$ 1.1	$ 2.4
Joint revenue sharing arrangements [Member]
Segment Reporting (Textual) [Abstract]
Advertising, marketing and commission costs	0.8	0.5
IMAX systems [Member]
Segment Reporting (Textual) [Abstract]
Advertising, marketing and commission costs	0.2	0.2
Film Distribution [Member]
Segment Reporting (Textual) [Abstract]
Marketing costs (recovery)	0.1	0.2
Impairment loss	$ 0.1	$ 2.3

Percentage of accounts receivable represented by largest customer.

No definition available.

Name:	imax_PercentageOfAccountsReceivableRepresentedByLargestCustomer
Namespace Prefix:	imax_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Percentage of total revenues represented by largest customers if first and third customers are under common control.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	imax_PercentageOfRevenuesRepresentedByLargestCustomer
Namespace Prefix:	imax_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Segment reporting.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	imax_SegmentReportingTextualAbstract
Namespace Prefix:	imax_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The aggregate amount of write-downs for impairments recognized during the period for long-lived assets held for abandonment, exchange or sale.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=121586364&loc=d3e3602-108585

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 15
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109226348&loc=d3e2611-110228

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ImpairmentOfLongLivedAssetsToBeDisposedOf
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Expenditures for planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services. Costs of public relations and corporate promotions are typically considered to be marketing costs.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 220
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-03.4)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120395209&loc=SL114868664-224227

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_MarketingExpense
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_SegmentReportingInformationLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The aggregate total amount of expenses directly related to the marketing or selling of products or services.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_SellingAndMarketingExpense
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=imax_ProductionAndImaxDmrMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=imax_JointRevenueSharingArrangementsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=imax_SalesAndSalesTypeLeasesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=imax_DistributionMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: