UNIVERSITY DISTRICT
Adults-only VIP cinema arrives
Cineplex is planning a new, highend, high-concept theatre complex for the University District, the master-planned community being advanced by West Campus Development Trust near the University of Calgary. The new theatre complex, with a half-dozen, 60-seat screening rooms, will open in 2021.
The adults-only VIP Cinema concept is one that Cineplex has developed and modified over some 20 years, says communications director Sarah Van Lange.
She says Cineplex is aiming at nothing short of reinventing the dinner-and-a-movie experience.
“It’s a different way of watching a movie,” Lange says. “It’s more of a private-screening kind of feel.” And, if you were going to a private screening you might expect certain amenities.
The new University District theatre aims to please. Movie goers enter through a licensed lounge, and that’s why it’s billed as “adults only.” Patrons can stop for drinks and food before and/or after the show — or order drinks and meals delivered to their seats.
It’s also designed to be a more sophisticated viewing experience, Van Lange adds. Each theatre will feature wide aisles and wide recliner seats.
“We actually worked with a designer on the seats,” Van Lange says. They not only recline but have individual swivelling tray tables that can be comfortably po- sitioned for sitting up or reclining. Before the movie starts, you can order meals and drinks from the in-seat menu service, and waiters will deliver your order to your seat. There’s even a new downloadable app that allows patrons to place food and drink orders from their computer tablets or phones. Or you can place your order digitally, when you buy your movie tickets and choose your seats remotely. During the show no orders will be accepted “because it’s still important to have an uninterrupted movie experience,” Lange says.
After the movie, you can stop in the lounge to talk about the movie over drinks and a meal.
Lange says Cineplex has a VIP Cinema in Seton, though it’s part of a larger, conventional Cineplex theatre complex. The University District project will be the first “stand-alone, adults-only VIP Cinema” in Calgary. What this means for the movie lineup is simply that it won’t screen the most obviously kid-focused films, she says.
The first VIP Cinema was built on Bloor Street in Toronto in 1999 and “the feedback from our guests was so positive that we built a business plan around it ,” Lange says. This led to continuous refinement in new theatre projects over several years, aimed at “reinventing the movie-going experience for adult guests.”
Today there are 20 VIP Cinema offerings across the country, of which the University District iteration will be the latest and greatest.