Four AMC Canada Multiplexes Turned into Cineplex Screens

TORONTO - Cinema-goers in Toronto and Montreal that visited their local AMC theater Friday had a surprise: they opened business as a new outlet for Cineplex, Canada’s largest cinema chain.

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Cineplex on Thursday completed an earlier announced deal to acquire four AMC theaters in Ontario and Quebec after China’s Wanda Group acquired the Kansas City-based AMC Entertainment chain.

Cineplex overnight changed the signage and ticket systems for its four newest theaters, three of which are in the Toronto market -- AMC Courtney Park in west Toronto, with 16 screens; the 24-screen AMC Yonge & Dundas complex in downtown Toronto; and AMC Winston Churchill in Oakville, Ontario with 24 screens.

And Montreal’s 22-screen AMC Forum complex from today operates as Cineplex Odeon Forum.

Cineplex is to install the latest digital bells and whistles at the former AMC locations, including the possibility of UltraAVX-branded auditoriums, VIP cinemas or XSCAPE entertainment centers.

And by September 30, the acquired AMC theaters will go digital with Christie digital DLP cinema projectors, and possibly RealD 3D systems.

There’s another four AMC multiplexes in the U.S. chain’s Canadian circuit that could potentially land with Empire Theaters, or another rival cinema chain here.

Besides adding the four AMC theaters to its circuit, Cineplex has brought another 250 employees onto its payroll.