SINGAPORE: Cathay Cineplexes’ parent company mm2 announced on Friday (Oct 18) its acquisition and takeover of operations at WE Cinemas’ 321 Clementi outlet.
It will take effect from Nov 1, when the cinema will continue operations as Cathay Cineplexes Clementi 321, mm2 and Eng Wah Global said in a joint statement.
The deal shows mm2’s “continued confidence in the cinema business and our steadfast belief that blockbusters will return to our screens soon”, Melvin Ang, the media company’s executive chairman, said.
Deadpool & Wolverine, the second biggest film of the year, was a notable absence from Cathay Cineplexes’ slate of films earlier in the year. This was a “business decision”, a Cathay Cineplexes spokesperson told CNA then.
Mr Ang said that 321 Clementi was “well located in the heart of Clementi, in a well-positioned estate which serves a good spread of public and private housing estates, polytechnics and universities; and is the nearest to town amongst all our other cinemas operating today”.
Mr Ang said that the cinema business has yet to recover fully in the years since the COVID-19 pandemic, citing factors like limited capacity occupancies due to social distancing, strikes in Hollywood that resulted in a blockbuster shortage and the changing consumer habits of filmgoing audiences.
“The business recovery is taking longer than expected.”
Recently, the business has seen a resurgence at the box office as well as several notable acquisitions, joint ventures and large-scale cinema improvement plans in the US, China and Southeast Asia, mm2 noted.
