Imax Expands Second-Screen Concept in Quebec With Three-Theater Deal

TORONTO – Imax is moving ahead with plans to install two of its giant screens in a single multiplex in Canada.

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The large format exhibitor expanded its joint venture agreement with Canadian partner Cinemas Guzzo for another three theaters to bring its cross-chain presence to eight screens.

And one of the new venues will have a second Imax screen installed in the same multiplex.

Imax and Cinemas Guzzo tested the second-screen concept in Montreal’s Mega-Plex Marche Central 18 complex, which opened in July.

The second-screen strategy allows Imax greater flexibility to meet consumer demand for its films, especially on opening weekends for Hollywood blockbusters when theater sell-outs are common.

Vincenzo Guzzo, executive vp of Cinemas Guzzo, said the experiment paid off, paving the way for a second Imax screen to be installed in the Mega-Plex Taschereau 18 in Brossard in November.

And Cinemas Guzzo will open an Imax theater at its West-Island location in December, as well as another screen in a new North-Shore construction complex scheduled to open in 2013.

"The response to the second Imax screen at our Mega-Plex Marche Central in Montreal has been overwhelmingly positive, resulting in new business for us," Guzzo reported.