The president and chief executive officer of Cineplex Inc. is sounding an optimistic note, despite the pain that the COVID-19 crisis has inflicted on Canada’s largest movie theatre chain.
Ellis Jacob said Friday that big box office numbers in Asian countries that have successfully contained the virus indicate that customers will eventually return to Canadian theatres in droves.
His comments come after Cineplex posted third-quarter results that missed analysts’ expectations, with attendance falling 91.1 per cent to 1.6 million.
“When we look at Southeast Asian countries hitting records – including Japan, Australia, China and Taiwan ... we feel pretty confident that once COVID is behind us, our guests will come back,” Jacob told BNN Bloomberg’s Amanda Lang.
In recent months, countries in Asia have been leading the international box office with help from big local film releases, while a second COVID-19 wave has forced North American and European countries to re-impose restrictions.
Cineplex has been grappling with the financial impact of wary moviegoers amid the pandemic, as well as temporary theatre closures and capacity restrictions ordered by public health officials.
Jacob added the company is still negotiating rent with its landlords, and looking for additional assistance from the government.
“Our main focus is really about cash preservation,” Jacob said. “We continue to focus on all of our costs, including our fixed costs, which are rent and also labour costs.”
Jacob said increased attendance in some provinces during Remembrance Day signals that customers are starting to return.
"Our guests want to have an experience and they want to come back to the theatres, and that's what we're excited about,” Jacob said.
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