Cineplex shutters Mount Pearl screens
Amidst a down year for screenings, Cineplex decides not to renew lease
After 40 years of screening films for moviegoers in the St. John’s metro area, a Mount Pearl movie theatre shut off its projectors for good.
As of Tuesday, June 1, the Cineplex theatre at Mount Pearl Square ceased screenings. Cineplex spokeswoman Sarah Van Lange told Saltwire Network the closure was permanent and resulted from the company’s decision not to renew its lease.
“We thank the community for their support of this location over the years, and we look forward to welcoming them at Scotiabank Theatre St. John’s at (the) Avalon Mall,” she said in an emailed statement, noting the company introduced considerable upgrades in the latter theatre in recent years.
The Avalon Mall location has IMAX screens and D-BOX motion seats, in addition
to more food options.
The movie theatre in Mount Pearl first opened as part of what was then known as Sobeys Square in 1981. In addition to screening blockbuster films, it routinely offered film lovers a chance to watch older movies and independent films on a big screen.
It had six screens, exactly half as many as the Avalon Mall Cineplex location.
While no mention of COVID-19 was referenced in Van Lange’s statement to Saltwire, the global pandemic has not been kind to box office revenue for movie theatres. Live screenings were already in competition with streaming options prior to the pandemic. Health and safety concerns forced movie theatre companies worldwide, including Cineplex, to shut down operations for multiple months.
When Cineplex and other theatre companies resumed business, they had to contend with public health measures limiting the number of people permitted to sit in theatres.
Major motion picture companies have also been hesitant to release some of their big-ticket movies. The most recent James Bond movie, “No Time To Die,” was scheduled to come out last spring. It’s theatrical release is now this fall — a year-and-a-half after its original release date. For 2021, Warner Brothers elected to release big movies to theatres and the HBO Max streaming platform simultaneously.