CGV pulls out of U.S. theater business after 15 years, closes last LA site

▲ This image is screenshot from CGV U.S. website. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Sept. 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korean cinema chain CJ CGV has fully withdrawn from the U.S. theater business, shutting down its last remaining location in Los Angeles after 15 years of operations.

In a notice posted on its website, CGV U.S. said it had made the “difficult decision to permanently close the CGV LA site.” The location’s final day of operation was Sept. 21 (local time).

A CGV official told Yonhap News that the company has “restructured its global business strategy, shifting away from theater expansion to focusing on growing its premium-format technologies, such as ScreenX and 4DX, through its subsidiary CJ 4DPLEX.”

CGV first entered the U.S. market in 2010, opening a 600-seat, three-screen complex in Los Angeles. It expanded with an 1,187-seat, eight-screen theater in Buena Park in 2017 and a large 14-screen venue, including premium formats, in downtown San Francisco in 2021.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of streaming services eroded theater attendance. CGV closed its San Francisco site in February 2023 and the Buena Park site in March this year before shutting down its LA branch this month.

Instead, CJ 4DPLEX is doubling down on its technology-driven formats. In the first half of 2024, its ScreenX and 4DX auditoriums in North America generated a record US$55 million in box office revenue, up 47 percent from a year earlier. Of that, 4DX alone accounted for US$35 million, a 51 percent increase on-year.

Globally, CJ 4DPLEX operates 772 4DX auditoriums and 439 ScreenX auditoriums, totaling 1,212 worldwide.

The company said it is accelerating global growth through major partnerships with leading theater chains, including AMC, the world’s largest.

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