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Onex
To Control Nation’s Largest Speciality Circuit
Loews Cineplex Parent To
Acquire Landmark Theatres
TORONTO – Loews
Cineplex’s Toronto-based parent company, Onex Corp.,
announced Nov. 11 its intent to purchase the 290-screen
Los Angeles-based Landmark Theatres chain.
Landmark’s assets include 53 specialty sites operating
178 screens (comprising the United States’ largest
arthouse circuit) as well as 14 Silver Cinemas sub-run
sites encompassing 112 auditoria.
The
purchase price is expected to be roughly $126 million,
including approximately $57 million in equity capital.
Onex’s initial share of the invested capital is
expected to be around $34 million.
“Landmark
is an exceptional fit for Loews Cineplex,” said
Anthony Munk, managing director of Onex Corp. “We
believe there are no better operators in the expanding
niche of art and specialty exhibition than the
management of Landmark.”
Onex,
Canada’s 5th-largest company, currently controls
a worldwide exhibition empire boasting 2,877
at 296 sites.
Onex
purchased Loews Cineplex in March 2002 and
Star Theatres in April 2002. It acquired a
majority stake
in Mexican exhibitor Grupo Cinemex in June
2002 (In
Focus, September 2002).
Onex’s current U.S. screen count totals 1,534 screens
at 153 sites. Its Canadian presence constitutes 745 screens
at 87 sites, while Mexico boasts 349 Onex-controlled
screens at 31 sites. In Spain and Korea, the company’s
tallies are 207 screens at 20 sites and 42
screens at five sites, respectively.  In Southern California Desert
Cinemark 18
For Victorville
VICTORVILLE, Calif. – Cinemark USA announced Oct.
23 that it would construct an 18-plex in the new Victorville
Entertainment Center on Bear Valley Road, located 90
miles east of Los Angeles in the Mojave Desert.
Featuring
the town’s first stadium-style
seating (with rows 48 inches deep and
a 16-inch height difference
between rows), the facility will feature on-line reservations,
digital sound and plush, high-backed rocker seats with
cup-holder armrests.
The
facility’s Studio Eats Restaurant
will serve hamburgers, gourmet hot dogs,
pizza, appetizers, shakes
and smoothies, along with hand-dipped ice cream.
Designed
with an art-deco motif of muted reds,
golds
and bronzes, the venue was designed to recall the
golden age of Hollywood.
Cinemark
currently operates 3,002 screens worldwide.
October Bow For Novi
Emagine Launches
Michigan 18-Plex
NOVI, Mich. – Nearly 1,000 people – among
them magicians, comics, improvisational actors and celebrity
look-alikes – came together Oct. 28 for the grand
opening of Emagine Entertainment’s 18-plex in Novi,
Mich.
 Over
$10,000 raised from charity tickets and
auctioned items went to benefit the Barbara
Ann Karmanos Cancer
Institute.
A
pre-opening free film festival, featuring
such classics as “The Godfather,” “Titanic,” “Cinema
Paradiso” and “Saturday Night Fever,” was
presented Oct. 18-24.
The
multi, according to circuit officials,
is the first in the Detroit area to offer
patrons a full
selection
of alcoholic beverages for consumption within the
auditoria.
With
the opening of the Novi 18-plex, Emagine
operates 28 screens at two sites. Another
Emagine 18-plex,
earmarked for Canton Township, Mich., is slated
for a late 2003
bow.
National
Amusements 16-Plex
Cinema de Lux
To Long Island
HOLTSVILLE, N.Y. – National Amusements
strengthened its New York presence Oct. 18
with the opening of the
Island 16: Cinema de Lux in the Long Island
town of Holtsville.
The
3,250-seat multi offers patrons the Chatter’s
Bar and Lounge featuring a full-service bar
with indoor and outdoor seating as well
as a panoply of appetizers,
sandwiches, salads, burgers and desserts.
The bar and dining areas are equipped
with plasma screens showing
entertainment and sports programming. A separate
coffee bar serves espresso, cappuccino
and other specialty drinks.
Food
franchises situated within the facility
include Ben and Jerry’s, Sbarro’s Pizza, and Nathan’s.
The facility features stadium-style seating,
digital sound and a “Director’s Hall” featuring
four deluxe auditoriums with ultraleather
rocking recliners and advanced reserve
seating. Online reservations can
be made at island16.com.
National
Amusements currently operates more than
1,400 screens in the United States,
Great Britain
and Latin
America.
Joins
Downtown’s Block E
Crown Launches
Minneapolis 15
 MINNEAPOLIS – Crown Theatres celebrated
on Nov. 1 the formal opening of its new Block
E 15-plex in downtown
Minneapolis.
Located
at 600 Hennepin Ave., the multi actually
opened its doors a week earlier,
giving locals
the opportunity
to preview the facility with $1 screenings.
All proceeds went to selected local
charities.
Encompassing
the entire third floor of the Block E
entertainment-retail
facility,
the
cinema features
plush rocker seats with
retractable cupholder armrests,
stadium-style seating, THX acoustics,
wall-to-wall
screens and advance
ticketing by phone.
Norwalk,
Conn.-based Crown currently operates
172 screens with construction
underway
on future sites
in Glenview,
Ill. and Long Beach, Calif. |
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California 8-Plex Demolished
Century 14 Due
For Salinas, Calif.
 SALINAS, Calif. – Century Theatres began demolition
in late October of its 22-year-old 8-plex in Salinas,
Calif.’s Northridge Mall – to make way for
a new 14-plex.
The
coming facility, due to bow this summer approximately
90 miles south of San Francisco, will include stadium-style
seating, digital THX acoustics and wall-to-wall screens.
Century
currently operates more than 850 screens in 11 states,
with 250 additional screens set to debut
over
the next three years. Renovated Site in Winter Haven
Cobb Relaunches
Florida Ten-Plex
WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – Cobb Theatres reopened its
renovated Cobb Grand 10-plex in Winter Haven, Fla.’s
Spring Lake Square Nov. 15.
The
former Regal Cinemas facility, closed since June,
now features an art-deco design and stadium-style seating
in all auditoriums.
 “When
you walk in, you would never know that there was
never stadium seating in here,” said circuit
president Robert Cobb.
Other
renovations included a new street façade,
a fully equipped concession stand, new carpeting and
tile, curved screens and digital sound.
“With
a population of nearly 150,000, this town deserves
a 10-plex,” Cobb said.
Birmingham,
Ala.-based Cobb now operates 68 screens at six
sites in Florida and Alabama. Exhib Enters U.S. Market
Korea’s CJ Plans 3
For L.A.’s Koreatown
LOS ANGELES – While American exhibitor Loews Cineplex
establishes its chain of multis in South Korean, at least
one South Korean exhibitor is set to enter the U.S. market.
South
Korea-based CJ Entertainment announced plans
Oct. 22 to build its first CGV multiplex in
the United States.
Slated
to land in Los Angeles’ Koreatown in
2004, the 700-seat triplex targets the 186,000
Koreans living
in the area, the largest Korean population outside
of Korea. The facility will offer Korean films
subtitled
in English, foreign films and Hollywood fare.
CJ
Entertainment and U.S.-based DC Town Capital
will control and operate the facility. Menefee Markets
Marcus Theatres
Appoints New VP
MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Marcus Theatres announced Oct.
17 that former U.S. Foodservice president Bob Menefee
would join the circuit as its vice president of concessions,
marketing and purchasing.
Before
his tenure at U.S. Foodservice, Menefee
was president of Ameriserv and held a number
of positions with the
cinema candy company Nebco and Nebco-Evans.
“A respected and experienced leader in the theatre foodservice industry,
Bob will provide invaluable expertise in vendor relations, contract negotiations,
concession sales, purchasing and marketing,” said circuit president
Bruce J. Olson.
Menefee
will oversee concessions purchasing and
marketing for 490 Marcus screens in Wisconsin,
Illinois, Minnesota and Ohio. 1,449 Seats For Driftwood
Great Texas 8-Plex
Planned
For Marble Falls
MARBLE FALLS, Texas – Construction began in late October
on Great Texas Movie Company’s Driftwood 8-plex,
set to bow March 12 in Marble Falls, Texas.
The
project commenced with the complete
interior demolition of the Village
Antique Mall, which will serve as home
to
the flagship multi.
The
new venue, situated about 45 miles
northwest of Austin, will feature
an array of amenities, including stadium-style
seating, digital sound, an ice cream parlor and an
arcade
room. The largest auditorium will feature STR’s hydro-based
sonic subwoofers, designed to “shake the room.” Homemade
pizzas, made from the same family recipe
featured at GTMC’s three Fort Worth, Texas-area cinemas, adorn
the menu, as do appetizers, spirits and more typical cinema
concession fare.
“What
could be better together than a homemade
pizza, ice cream, hot fresh popcorn
and a great Hollywood movie?” asked
Great Texas Movie’s VP of Operation, Dennis
Butler.
With
an art-deco design, the building will
feature vintage 1930s windows and,
in the lobby, an ornate, ‘30s-era
antique chandelier acquired from Los Angeles’ Wiltern
Theatre.
GTMC
currently operates 20 screens at three
sites in Greater Fort Worth. |
