- Cineplex (TSX:CGX), Canada’s largest film exhibitor, is optimistic about the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon as the theatre industry continues to rebound
- The films in question, “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” hit theatres Friday after weeks of increasing online attention and hundreds of thousands of Canadian ticket presales
- Cineplex is a Canadian brand active in the film entertainment, marketing, media and amusement sectors
- Cineplex (TSX:CGX) is up by 1.69 per cent, trading at $9.03 per share
Cineplex (TSX:CGX), Canada’s largest film exhibitor, is optimistic about its industry’s continued rebound, with all eyes on the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon and its promise of increased revenue.
Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” hit theatres Friday after weeks of viral publicity, the majority of it based on memes centred on the films’ stark contrasts.
Gerwig’s comedy focuses on a popular doll launched in the 1950s with themes of authenticity, feminism, racism and gender equality in the mix, while Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” focuses on a renown scientist who worked for the Manhattan Project designing the atomic bomb.
The internet craze about the films’ widely differing stories has led movie lovers across the world to watch both works on the same day, despite their combined run time of almost five hours. The double-feature trend and nascent box-office matchup was thus named “Barbenheimer.”
The hype is putting up numbers, with Cineplex reporting more than 200,000 “Barbie” ticket presales and 145,000 “Oppenheimer” presales as of Thursday. Among these purchases, more than 60,000 tickets are to watch both films, according to Cineplex, with 65 per cent of those buyers saying they’ll watch them on the same day.
Barbenheimer-based enthusiasm is good news for the movie theatre business, whose post-pandemic recovery has been dampened by high inflation cutting into discretionary spending, lingering uneasiness about sharing enclosed spaces for extended periods, as well as the ongoing Hollywood writers and actors strike potentially impoverishing film supply in the near future.
The returning sense that films can provide memorable experiences worth one’s hard-earned dollars is evident in Cineplex’s Q2 results, which are approaching pre-COVID levels and inspiring confidence in summer box office numbers.
Box office revenue for the quarter was 87 per cent of the figure for Q2 2019, outpacing overall North American box office recovery by more than 5 per cent. Box office revenue for June 2023 came in at C$56 million, or 98 per cent of the figure for June 2019.
Cineplex stock is up by 91 per cent since its pandemic low in 2020, substantiating the power of good films to fill seats. That said, shares remain down by more than 83 per cent since their all-time-high in 2017, putting into question the company’s diversified media and entertainment business model and its long-term ability to generate shareholder value.
“The second quarter of 2023 marks the first post-pandemic period where the industry saw improved film supply, with our results reflecting both the significant impact of our industry’s rebound and our efforts to capitalize on that momentum,” Ellis Jacob, Cineplex’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “We are confident in the continued strength of our business as we excitedly await the compelling films scheduled for July and beyond, including the highly anticipated ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One,’ ‘Oppenheimer,’ ‘Barbie,’ and many more.”
Cineplex is a Canadian brand active in the film entertainment, marketing, media and amusement sectors. It serves millions of guests every year at its more than 170 movie theatres and location-based entertainment venues.
Cineplex (TSX:CGX) is up by 1.69 per cent trading at $9.03 per share as of 9:38 am ET.
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