Cinema chains ready to cash in on movie boom
In the latest signal of growth in the Chinese market, CJ CGV, South Korea’s largest multiplex cinema chain, is partnering with IMAX, a Canadian operator of large-screen movie theaters, to install 15 new theaters in China by 2015.
In spite of its strong growth, the cinema industry still has a huge untapped market. Gelfond estimated that IMAX will have a total of 20,000 screens in China in five years and 40,000 screens in 10 years, as what the United States has today. Even so, that will be considered a low penetration rate, given the size of China’s population.
