Cineplex Entertainment
Cineplex Inc. (formerly Cineplex Entertainment and Cineplex Galaxy) is a Canadian operator of movie theater and family entertainment centres, headquartered in Toronto. It is the largest cinema chain in Canada; as of 2019, it operated 165 locations, and accounted for 75% of the domestic box office.[7]
This article is about the movie theatre company formerly known as "Galaxy Entertainment". For the Chinese entertainment group, see Galaxy Entertainment Group. For other topics, see Galaxy (disambiguation).Formerly
- Galaxy Entertainment
(1999–2003) - Cineplex Galaxy Income Fund (2003–2011)
- Cineplex Galaxy (2003–2005)
- Loews Cineplex Entertainment (Cineplex Odeon Corporation)
- Famous Players
- AMC Theatres (4 Canadian locations)
- Empire Theatres
October 4, 1999 (Galaxy Entertainment)
November 26, 2003 (Cineplex-Galaxy)[1]
Gerry Schwartz, Ellis Jacob and Stephen Brown
- Theatres: 158
* Screens: 1,637[2]
–CA$84.29 million (2021)
–CA$248.72 million (2021)
CA$2.11 billion (2021)
–CA$219.72 million (2021)
- Cineplex Odeon
- Galaxy
- Famous Players
- Cinema City
- Scotiabank Theatre
- Cineplex Cinemas
- Cineplex VIP Cinemas
- Cineplex Entertainment LP
- Player One Amusement Group Inc.
- Famous Players LP
- Galaxy Entertainment Inc.
- Cineplex Media
- Cineplex Digital Media Inc.
- Cineplex Pictures
- Canadian Digital Cinema Partnership (78.2%)
- SCENE LP (50%)
- Cineplex Entertainment Corporation
- Alliance Cinemas
www
corp
The company was formed in 2003 via the acquisition of Loews Cineplex's Canadian operations (which included the assets of the former Cineplex Odeon chain) by Onex Corporation and Oaktree Capital Management, and its subsequent merger with Onex's Galaxy Entertainment—a chain of cinemas that was established in 1999 by former Cineplex Odeon executives, and operated primarily in smaller markets. The company subsequently acquired Famous Players from National Amusements in 2005, went public in 2011, and acquired Empire Theatres' operations in Atlantic Canada and parts of Ontario in 2013. In December 2019, Cineplex agreed to be acquired by British exhibitor Cineworld Group for $2.8 billion, pending regulatory and shareholder approval, but Cineworld abandoned the sale in June 2020 due to unspecified breaches of the sale terms.
The company operates cinemas across Canada, primarily under the brand Cineplex Cinemas. Some flagship locations operate as Scotiabank Theatre, while some locations use brands carried over from its corporate predecessors (such as Famous Players, SilverCity, Odeon, and Galaxy, although some of them have since been converted to the Cineplex banner). The company also owns family entertainment centres under the brands The Rec Room and Playdium, the rewards loyalty program Scene+, the e-commerce Cineplex Store, film distributor Cineplex Pictures and the digital advertising business Cineplex Media.
Criticism and controversy[edit]
The Motley Fool described Cineplex as having a "virtual monopoly" over the cinema market in Canada.[88]
In 2012, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Cineplex over locations refusing to honour the company's "Cheap Tuesdays" promotion. The company agreed to a $7,000 settlement, including a $25,000 charitable donation.[89][90]
In 2019, the producers of Unplanned, an anti-abortion-themed film, criticized Cineplex for initially declining to pick up the film after securing a Canadian distributor. They felt it amounted to an effective "ban" of the film from Canada due to the company's scale. The film's co-director Cory Solomon also, along with other anti-abortion activists and religious groups, called for a boycott of Cineplex. The company later announced that it would—joining competitor Landmark Cinemas and a handful of independent cinemas—screen Unplanned with a one-week limited release at 24 Cineplex locations. The decision was praised by opponents of abortion rights, but did lead to criticism from pro-choice groups due to disputes over the film's content (with the Alberta Pro-Choice Coalition stating that it planned to hold a peaceful protest outside Scotiabank Theatre Chinook Centre). The film itself had already attracted criticism from groups, such as the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, over its factual accuracy, with the Coalition describing it as "American propaganda".[91][92][93][94][95]
During the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, festival organizers stated that Cineplex would no longer allow films distributed by an online video service (such as Amazon Video or Netflix) to be screened at the Scotiabank Theatre Toronto (which has been considered the "primary" venue of the event for major screenings) due to company policy, as the services do not adhere to industry-standard theatrical windows. ScreenDaily stated that this was "believed to be the first time an exhibitor’s position on theatrical windowing has affected scheduling at a major film festival".[96][97]