the defunct corporation see cineplex odeon corporation . cineplex inc. formerly called galaxy entertainment 1999 2003 cineplex galaxy income fund 2003 2011 cineplex galaxy 2003 2005 type public traded as tsx cgx tsx cgx.db industry film exhibitor digital advertising predecessors famous players inc. loews cineplex entertainment empire theatres founded 1999 ; 17 years ago 1999 founder ellis jacob and stephen brown headquarters 1303 yonge street toronto ontario m4t 2y9 area served canada key people ellis jacob president & ceo gord nelson chief financial officer dan mcgrath chief operating officer heather briant senior vice president human resources jeff kent chief technology officer michael kennedy executive vice president filmed entertainment anne fitzgerald chief legal officer patricia marshall vice president communications and investor relations revenue can 1.010 billion 2010 net income can 63.0 million 2010 number of employees over 10 000 1 divisions cineplex odeon galaxy silvercity famous players cinema city scotiabank theatre cineplex cinemas cineplex vip cinemas subsidiaries cineplex starburst inc. famous players lp website http www.cineplex.com cineplex inc. formerly known as cineplex galaxy income fund and galaxy entertainment inc. is one of canada s largest entertainment companies and operates numerous businesses including movie theatres food services gaming alternative programming and the online sale of home entertainment content . cineplex is also a joint venture partner in scene canada s largest entertainment loyalty program . through its operating subsidiary cineplex entertainment lp cineplex operates 162 theatres with 1 640 screens in all 10 canadian provinces from coast to coast serving approximately 71 million guests annually through the following theatre brands cineplex cinemas cineplex odeon silvercity galaxy cinemas cinema city famous players scotiabank theatres and cineplex vip cinemas . cineplex also owns and operates its own brands for entertainment such as ultraavx xscape entertainment centre cineplex starburst and brady starburst and restoration such as outtakes and poptopia . contents 1 history 1.1 1912 1979 1.1.1 early development 1.2 1999 2005 1.3 2005 present 2 operations and brands 2.1 theatre chains 2.2 premium screens 2.3 arcade 2.4 front row centre events 2.5 scene 3 restaurants 4 corporate governance 5 see also 6 notes 7 references 8 external links history edit 1912 1979 edit early development edit main articles famous players and cineplex odeon corporation cineplex currently stakes a partial claim to the history of the famous players film company later paramount pictures founded in 1912 as its earliest predecessor though that company did not have any operations in canada until 1920 when it bought nathan nathanson s paramount theatre chain which nathanson had established four years earlier . 2 nb 1 nathanson along with being the 5th richest person in the world became the first president of the resulting entity famous players canadian corporation . 3 in 1923 famous players bought out rival allen theatres acquiring many buildings in the process . 4 in 1979 garth drabinsky and nat taylor opened its first cineplex theatre complex toronto eaton centre . 1999 2005 edit the present enterprise known as galaxy entertainment inc. was established in 1999 by ellis jacob a former chief operating officer of loews cineplex entertainment and stephen brown a former cineplex chief financial officer . with investments from onex corporation and famous players the new company focused on smaller markets that were usually served by smaller theatres and old equipment opening large major chain style locations under the galaxy cinemas banner . in october 2003 loews cineplex entertainment which was a merger of cineplex odeon and sony s loews theatres in 1998 who went bankrupt in 2001 due to the economic recession of the early 2000s 5 consolidated its canadian operations with galaxy cinemas forming cineplex galaxy income fund . jacob became the chief executive of cineplex galaxy cinemas and brown became the cfo . onex was the controlling shareholder of both loews cineplex theatres and galaxy cinemas at the time of the merger but sold its interest in loews in june 2004 . it maintained control of cineplex galaxy . citation needed 2005 present edit scotiabank theatre ottawa formerly silvercity on june 13 2005 cineplex galaxy income fund announced its acquisition of famous players from viacom for 500 million about us 397 million . this deal was completed on july 22 2005 . to satisfy antitrust concerns on august 22 2005 the group announced the sale of 27 locations in ontario and western canada to empire theatres . eight days after cineplex galaxy announced its purchase of famous players theatres loews cineplex theatres and amc theatres announced a merger . while amc theatres also operates in canada and was ranked third behind cineplex galaxy income fund and the enlarged empire theatres cineplex odeon and amc theatres remained competitors . in 2012 amc sold 4 of its theatres to cineplex entertainment in an effort to divest their canadian operations and focus on their u.s. assets . 6 cineplex galaxy income fund the owners of the chain renamed cineplex galaxy lp to cineplex entertainment on october 3 2005 . 7 in 2011 cineplex galaxy became cineplex inc. cineplex entertainment announced on march 31 2006 that it had sold seven more theatres in quebec to chelsea based fortune cinemas inc. on june 29 2007 cineplex entertainment announced its purchase of three cinema city theatres in western canada . two theatres in winnipeg and one in edmonton were acquired . 8 with the bankruptcy of fortune cinemas cineplex entertainment acquired or in this case re acquired some of fortune cinemas theatres . the starcit gatineau starcit hull and the cavendish theaters were reopened as cineplex entertainment theatres . in july 2012 cineplex entertainment purchased four of amc s canadian theaters including the yonge dundas 24 at 10 dundas east adjacent to the toronto eaton centre and the forum in montreal . the purchase of the yonge dundas 24 presently canada s largest multiplex cinema brought cineplex entertainment full circle as the original cineplex at eaton centre was the namesake for the present company . the company also earlier acquired the tinseltown movies 12 theatre from another american chain cinemark in the gastown neighbourhood of vancouver . in december 2012 cineplex entertainment opened its first vip cinema outside ontario and the first cineplex built from the start as a vip cinema was in edmonton alberta in the sw neighborhood of windermere in the windermere area . it was also the first cineplex to be 18 vip . cineplex reopened a theater in coquitlam b.c that had been renovated to host 19 vip shortly after . on june 27 2013 cineplex entertainment announced the purchase of 24 empire theatres locations . the theatres they acquired are in atlantic canada . the acquired locations were rebranded under the cineplex cinemas name upon sale completion . the sale also included 2 imax screens in halifax ns and st. john s nl . and 2 empire extra screens in dartmouth ns and dieppe nb . the acquired empire extra screens were rebranded as ultraavx . 9 cineplex entertainment received competition bureau approval on october 10 2013 to buy 24 empire theatres in atlantic canada . previously the empire kanata and whitby theatres were to be sold to cineplex but were sold to landmark cinemas instead . the empire theatres in atlantic canada closed on october 22 2013 after the evening shows . 10 11 the sale was completed on october 24 2013 . 12 on october 24 & 25 2013 the theatres reopened as cineplex cinemas . on august 15 2014 cineplex entertainment opened cineplex vip cinemas don mills located at shops at don mills . while several cineplex entertainment locations have spaces within them dedicated to the 19 vip experience this was the first location of its kind designed exclusively for the 19 vip experience complete with valet parking 5 vip screens and all the other amenities that typically come with the cineplex vip experience . in january 2015 cineplex announced the development of a new entertainment restaurant chain known as the rec room ; comparable to u.s. chains such as dave & buster s they will feature restaurant arcade recreational game and bar areas and an auditorium that can be used for live entertainment and sports entertainment events on its cinema style display . the first two locations will open in edmonton south edmonton common and calgary deerfoot mall in 2016 followed by a location in toronto s roundhouse park in 2017 . 13 14 15 operations and brands edit cineplex s main competitors are cinemas guzzo in quebec and landmark cinemas and imagine cinemas in ontario . in western canada its main competitors are landmark cinemas and rainbow and magic lantern cinemas . following the sale of empire theatre s operations to cineplex and landmark cinemas cineplex became the only significant chain in atlantic canada a role previously held by empire only . on june 27 2013 empire company ltd. announced that it would be focusing on its retail and real estate operations including sobeys which earlier in the month had agreed to purchase safeway s canadian operations . to that end empire theatres wound down its operations and sold or closed all of its theatres . 16 cineplex entertainment purchased 24 theatres for approximately c 194 million on october 10 2013 . this consisted of all empire locations in atlantic canada . on october 22 2013 empire theatres closed its atlantic canada locations after the evening shows . 17 18 the atlantic canada theatres sale to cineplex was completed on october 24 2013 . 19 on october 25 2013 the theatres reopened as cineplex cinemas . the deal was to include the two former amc locations in kanata a region of ottawa and whitby but these were later removed from this deal due to competition bureau concerns . in lieu of the kanata location cineplex later acquired the rights to empire s planned 10 screen lansdowne park location in ottawa . on november 1 2013 empire company ltd. announced the completion of the sale of empire theatres to cineplex & landmark . 20 theatre chains edit cineplex cinemas lansdowne & vip ottawa main article list of cineplex entertainment movie theatres cineplex operates cinemas using the following banners cineplex cinemas known as cineplex odeon cinemas for many pre 2013 locations silvercity french starcit galaxy famous players cineplex vip cinemas scotiabank theatre and cinema city . the coliseum french colis e and colossus banners have been phased out in favour of the cineplex cinemas banner but the unique architectural features of these theatres has been preserved . premium screens edit cineplex entertainment features 206 premium screens 109 large format screens 41 d box screens of which nine are combined with one of the aforementioned large format screens and 56 vip cinemas screens . these require more scene points or an additional cost compared to a regular admission but offer both the option of a larger screen and a motion theatre where available . the company currently operates 23 digital imax screens . only one of these cineplex cinemas markham and vip was built by cineplex rather than acquired from another theatre chain . 21 the screen size is from about 73 22 to 119 23 inches depending on the venue . ultraavx is a large screen theatre concept created by cineplex . it premiered on june 30 2010 at two toronto and calgary locations . today this technology is available at 67 cineplex locations in all canadian provinces with the exception of newfoundland and labrador and prince edward island . 24 ultraavx screens are 66 feet wide 25 considerably larger than cineplex s traditional ones . ultraavx was initially powered by christie solaria 2230 dlp cinema projectors but later upgraded to solaria 4230 4k projectors . the theatres also feature a dolby digital 7.1 or a dolby atmos surround sound system and in the case of the latter atmos is annotated to presentations that feature it . guests can reserve seats which are extra wide rocking seats with high backs . 26 in 11 of the 67 locations