…is Cineplex.
Writing in This Magazine, Jake Pitre lays bare the stark truth facing the movie-going public in Canada:
“Cineplex’s role in Canada is, without a doubt, a monopoly. It runs 158 theatres with over 1,630 screens, and it controls approximately 75 percent of domestic box office. By contrast, no one company in the U.S., the UK, or Australia controls more than 30 percent.”
The Network of Independent Canadian Exhibitors (NICE) reports in its The State of Independent Film Exhibition in Canada that 60% of independent film exhibitors
operated at a loss at the end of their most recent fiscal year and highlights two policy suggestions that would improve the exhibition of films in Canada:
- Limit studio Clean Run demands: An overwhelming majority at 81%
of independent film exhibitors are impacted by the “clean
runs” required by major studios. - Eliminate Zones: 53% of independent film exhibitors must
wait for the Cineplex in their “zone” to finish playing a new
release before they are allowed to show it.
Curiously, a new book on corporate monopolies in Canada, The Big Fix, digs into the history of film exhibition in Canada and reveals that Cineplex was the upstart challenger in the 1980s!
My take: this situation can only be addressed with government intervention, as Cineplex has a vested interest in maintaining its monopoly. It’s a pity because competition is actually good.