Cineplex is coming off its most successful quarter ever and its CEO predicts success at the box office will continue even if Canada’s economy goes into a recession.

“We had an amazing summer and it was actually our best quarter ever, even pre-pandemic,” Ellis Jacob told BNN Bloomberg in a Thursday television interview.

Jacob made the comments after Canada’s largest cinema chain reported third-quarter revenue totalling $463.6 million, up from $339.8 million in the same quarter last year. 

He attributed the company’s recent success to the highly-anticipated releases of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” over the summer, as well as the concert movie of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, which is still in theatres.

Jacob said Swift’s popularity helped keep attendance high even as Hollywood actors were striking and a number of movies scheduled to come out in the fourth quarter of this year were pushed to 2024.

 “Taylor (Swift) was really spectacular and really moved the bar in a big way, and helped our business because when the product was an issue, we had the benefit of having her movie in the theaters,” Jacob said.

A deal was reached late Wednesday between the industry’s major U.S. studios and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, ending what was the longest strike ever for film and television actors. 

The labour development was good news for Jacob as a cinema chain executive.

“I was ecstatic when I found out that the strike was going to be behind us very shortly,” he said. “That will help us get the product back to where we were expecting it and it should keep the strong flow of guests coming to our theatres.”

BOX OFFICE RESILIENT DURING RECESSIONS

Jacob said that despite the uncertain economic environment in Canada, the movie box office often tends to do better during recessions and when Canadians find themselves under financial stress.

“We are one of the cheapest forms of entertainment, and you can have a great experience,” he explained.

“People cut out their travel and other expensive opportunities, but a theater is close to home and a great experience that has continued to do extremely well.”

Jacob added that as cinema attendance and demand has grown, big studios like Disney, Amazon and Apple have put a renewed focus on the “theatrical side of the business,” and he expects Cineplex to be able to take advantage of an influx of content.

“I think that's going to rebound and help us as we move forward when there's more content coming to our theaters,” he said.

With files from the Canadian Press and the Associated Press