Cineplex launches strategic review that could lead to sale of the company
The announcement comes as the theatre chain reports record monthly box office revenue and rising attendance, particularly among younger audiences.
TORONTO — Cineplex has initiated a strategic review that could include selling the company, the theatre chain said in a memo announcing a new chief executive officer this week.
The review will look at opportunities "to enhance and maximize value for all shareholders," the company said.
"While we remain highly confident in the company’s future prospects, we are committed to evaluating all available opportunities and remain open-minded regarding potential outcomes," said Phyllis Yaffe, head of Cineplex's board, in the memo.
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The news follows a strong financial performance for the company, which reported box office revenues of close to $98 million in August, its highest monthly box office performance in its history.
It said the record was driven by summer blockbusters like The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
The company also reported a 12.7 per cent increase in theatre attendance in the first half of 2026 compared to the same period last year, with a 12.3 per cent increase in revenues.
Still, movie theatre attendance has not fully returned to pre-pandemic levels, with a recent Telefilm Canada study finding ticket consumption per capita in 2024 was about half of what it was in 2019.
However, the report noted that 2019 was a year with several blockbuster releases, and that 2024 ticket consumption was only four per cent lower than in 2014.
Paul Moore, a professor at Toronto Metropolitan University who studies the history of moviegoing, said moviegoing remains an important part of popular culture.
"I don't think a change in ownership is going to change the place that Cineplex has in the retail landscape or in our cultural landscape," he said.
"There's no hint that megaplexes are losing so much money that somebody actually wants to shut them down and rework their real estate."
The Telefilm report also suggests younger audiences are not abandoning cinemas for streaming, at least not entirely.
It found that 85 per cent of respondents under 35 said they were moviegoers, compared to 54 per cent of those 35 and up.
"So it's good to see that continuity with the past," Moore said, noting movies have historically catered to young people.
Sonya Yokota William, the director of the Network of Independent Canadian Exhibitors, said independent cinemas are also seeing a bump in attendance year-over-year.
William attributes the bump in part to younger, Gen-Z audiences that are "more curious and more adventurous and happy to go out and see something that maybe they wouldn't have before."
But with Cineplex taking in close to 74 per cent of all box-office revenue in Canada, William said she worries that any ownership changes could "really hurt cinema going in this country."
Moore pointed out that Canada's cinemas were under foreign ownership for most of their history, when Famous Players, a subsidiary of U.S.-based Paramount, dominated the industry.
He said he does not think much has changed since Cineplex bought Famous Players in 2005 in terms of what is offered to moviegoers, and noted its nearest competitor, Landmark Cinemas, is owned by a Belgian company.
"In general, the fact that Cineplex is owned by a Canadian company is really making very little difference to the kinds of movies that it's showing and its role in the Canadian film industry," Moore said.
The company said no decisions have been made and there is no assurance the review will result in any transaction.
Cineplex was last up for sale in 2019, when it agreed to a $2.8-billion buyout by U.K.-based Cineworld Group PLC, but the deal fell through during the COVID-19 pandemic when theatres were forced to shut down.
With files from CBC News