TORONTO - The chief executive of Cineplex Inc. (TSX:CGX) says the absence of the Harry Potter franchise at its theatres raises some questions about the company's performance next year, after the blockbuster series helped the movie exhibitor soar to a record profit in the third quarter.
Ellis Jacob said in an interview Thursday that with the Harry Potter film series reaching its finale this past July, and a certain end in sight for the Twilight franchise, exhibitors are searching for the next big success.
"At the end of the day, am I concerned about losing some of these sureties? Yes, because you know they're home runs," Jacob said.
"With a sufficient breadth in product, we should be OK, but it does beg the question: 'What is going to replace Harry Potter next year?"'
That's a question many North American exhibitors have been asking Hollywood as attendance numbers continue to dwindle, particularly in the United States where many industry observers have noted that moviegoers seem to be avoiding the growing number of premium priced 3D movies.
In Canada, the situation has been somewhat different, with 3D movies scoring a larger chunk of viewers in recent quarters, but from July to September, Cineplex said attendance was still down 1.6 per cent.
Despite fewer tickets sold, Cineplex still managed to boost profits 28 per cent to $25.7 million from $20.1 million, mostly because more Canadians were buying tickets to higher priced 3D and Imax movies.
Box office revenues were up 3.3 per cent to $162.5 million and concession revenues grew 2.8 per cent to $82.1 million.
Total revenue increased 3.1 per cent to $276.7 million.
The most successful films of the quarter also happened to be exhibited in numerous formats, with top film "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 2" and runner up "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" both showing in 3D and Imax versions.
Next year, a new slate of potential franchises will look to fill the void left by Harry Potter, with a fresh revamp of Spider-Man hitting theatres next summer while an adaptation of the Hunger Games books series is aimed at the Twilight crowd.
Jacobs said he hopes audiences will also flock to a lineup of popular re-releases that have been reworked into 3D versions, particularly "Star Wars," "Titanic" and Disney's "Beauty and the Beast."
