Cinépolis, India’s first international – and world’s fourth largest – movie theatre circuit, plans to increase its screen count in the country and take it to a total of 400 by end of December 2018.
The brand – which has pan-India expansion plans – will soon be opening new screens in Tier I & II cities including Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Guwahati, and Muzzafarpur.
In an interview, Javier Sotomayor, Managing Director, Cinépolis India said, “The journey of Cinépolis in India has been very positive. We have established ourselves as a major player in the industry. India has been a profitable investment for us and we are fully committed to the future of the company in this country. China has 20X more screens as compared to India. So that is the potential we see in India. I believe, India has a super bright future.”
“At present, we have total of 315 screens. By 2022 we expect to have 600 screens in total. However, the growth of the whole industry has been much slower than what it should had been. In total in India there are 2,000 multiplex screens. We see a very bright future from the industry and believe that the pace of growth will increase in the years to come,” he added.
Apart from this, Cinépolis is looking forward to expanding its presence in Tier III and IV cities but the main problem that the brand is facing is cost of land. Cinépolis has not been able to find a business model that is viable for the brand in these areas.
“We believe that Tier III and IV people are eager to get movies in a better setup like multiplexes and we will continue to find out how. We also will have to be adaptable and flexible to give them that experience and at the same time be profitable to our investors,” said Sotomayor.
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Cinépolis, which has 15 percent of the total screens in India, generates overall 16 percent of the tickets and 17 percent of the box-office revenues. Going further, it is expecting 25 percent growth in terms of tickets sold.
Talking about the technological advancements, Sotomayor said, “We will soon be introducing Virtual Reality in one of our cinemas. In a space of 9 sq ft., the viewers wearing 3D glasses can look out for zombies and will be able to kill them with a gun. It is an engaging, exciting and scary experience. We will continue to explore the technological advancements further as innovation is in Cinépolis’ DNA.”
Cinépolis, which is the first international exhibitor in India, operates one of the country’s biggest Megaplexes – a 15-Screen Multiplex in Pune.
The company, Cinépolis India, has been awarded with “Most Admired Retail Launch” in 2010, ‘Most Admired Retailer – Innovation’ in 2011, ‘Fastest Growing Multiplex Chain’ in 2015, ‘IMAGES Most Admired Retailer – Entertainment’ in 2015 and ‘DLP CineAsia Marketing Achievement Award’ in 2015.
