Boxoffice Pro - August 2020

Coming to America
“We envision that the CGV
cultureplex concept has great
potential when entering the U.S.
Although CGV currently operates
only two theaters with 11 screens
in Los Angeles and Buena Park,
California, CGV was able to
introduce innovative cinematic
technologies—4DX and ScreenX—
for the first time in the market.”
—Sunghae Hong, Marketing
Manager, CGV America
Seo. “For us, being a ‘cultureplex’ means
to be a cultural playground, where people
can gather to experience all different types
of culture, from film, music, performances,
games, food, drinks, and so on.”
CJ CGV opened its first cultureplex
location in South Korea, CGV Chungdam, in
2011. The concept has grown alongside the
circuit’s global expansion; today there are
more than 580 cultureplex locations in eight
countries around the world. The company’s
cinema technology arm, CJ 4DPlex, offers
experiential innovations that can be
integrated into cinemas, such as immersive
seating (4DX), panoramic screens (ScreenX),
and virtual reality (4DX VR), to other major
circuits around the world.
Back in the United States, third-generation
exhibition veteran Kevin Mitchell
was similarly looking at ways to expand
the scope of what cinemas could offer
their patrons. “We first started toying
with the idea of adding an entertainment
component that would help us get away
from being a completely product-driven
business when I started [ShowBiz Cinemas]
in 2007,” says Mitchell, who serves
as the circuit’s CEO. Mitchell was interested
in adding another profit center to his
new circuit but was wary of “just slapping
a bowling alley onto a movie theater.”
“We spent a lot of time at the drawing
board pioneering a manageable and
consistently profitable entertainment
destination that incorporated bowling,
arcade gaming, movie auditoriums, a full
bar, and our food and beverage concept
into a unique and cohesive experience for
our customers,” he says. The process was
delayed as the real estate market slowly
recovered from the 2008 recession; it took
time to convince banks and development
partners to invest in innovation in what
was already a mature industry. ShowBiz’s
first Bowling, Movies and More! was
unveiled in Baytown, Texas, in 2015. The
circuit expects to have at least six cinema
entertainment centers in its fleet by the
end of 2020, with plans to open multiple
additional locations in the coming years.
As with cinema dining in the previous
decade, Texas became a hotbed of
innovation when it came to cinema
entertainment centers throughout the
2010s. Santikos Entertainment, which
operates nine theaters in the San Antonio
area, leveraged its own in-house real estate
team to find and develop the ideal location
for its first CEC. That site, Santikos Casa
Blanca, opened in June 2016 and incorporates
16 lanes of bowling, an arcade, sports
bar, and café. Santikos recently announced
plans to open another CEC in what will be
its 11th San Antonio location.
Evo Entertainment, the brainchild of
Mitchell Roberts, another Texas executive
with deep multigenerational roots in
the industry, opened its first CEC in
November 2014. Located in Kyle, Texas,
the 70,000-square-foot complex houses 11
screens, 14 bowling lanes, a 3,500-squarefoot
game arcade, a bar and grill, and
spaces for parties and corporate events.
Today, Evo has six Texas locations, with
a seventh, in southwest San Antonio (its
largest at 80,000 square feet), scheduled to
open in January 2021.
Its CEC in Schertz, Texas, which opened
August 2020
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