{"id":114248,"date":"2017-08-26T21:07:32","date_gmt":"2017-08-27T01:07:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=114248"},"modified":"2017-08-26T21:07:32","modified_gmt":"2017-08-27T01:07:32","slug":"amid-lack-of-summer-blockbusters-cineplex-offers-discount-tickets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/08\/26\/amid-lack-of-summer-blockbusters-cineplex-offers-discount-tickets\/","title":{"rendered":"Amid lack of summer blockbusters, Cineplex offers discount tickets"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Cineplex<\/a>
Cineplex said patrons can expect a 30 per cent discount on tickets during those days, with SCENE members receiving an additional 10 per cent discount. (Photo <\/a>by CINEPLEX\/FACEBOOK<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

TORONTO\u2014 Hollywood’s cruel summer of box-office flops has Cineplex hoping to reel in elusive audiences with a cheap movie ticket offer.<\/p>\n

Canada’s largest movie theatre company says it’s putting into effect Tuesday discount pricing for all screenings running from Friday to Aug. 31.<\/p>\n

Cineplex said patrons can expect a 30 per cent discount on tickets during those days, with SCENE members receiving an additional 10 per cent discount.<\/p>\n

It’s an unusual move during a period that’s often considered the victory lap after months of huge blockbusters except this summer hit movies were almost non-existent.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Cineplex (TSX:CGX) joined other chains in announcing weaker profits as fewer people filled theatres.<\/p>\n

Even though \u201cWonder Woman\u201d and \u201cGuardians of the Galaxy 2\u201d delivered strong results, the number of box-office failures easily outshines the successes.<\/p>\n

Among the duds, Tom Cruise’s \u201cThe Mummy\u201d and \u201cKing Arthur: Legend of the Sword\u201d both disappointed on opening weekend, while huge franchises like \u201cPirates of the Caribbean\u201d and \u201cPlanet of the Apes\u201d showed signs of running out of steam.<\/p>\n

Without the hits, Cineplex feels the sting on its box-office revenue and at concession stand where hungry moviegoers shell out for marked-up popcorn and drinks.<\/p>\n

Any shimmer of hope that August would save the season was quickly dashed when \u201cThe Dark Tower\u201d stumbled out of the gate with $19.2 million its first weekend. It’s a mere fraction of the $132 million opening of \u201cSuicide Squad\u201d at the same time last summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven’t really had anything of any consequence,\u201d said Raymond James analyst Kenric Tyghe. \u201cThere’s literally been nothing to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

The North American summer box-office was off about 13 per cent to $3.63 billion as of Aug. 23, helping to drag down the year’s box-office tally by 5.4 per cent, according to comScore senior analyst Paul Dergarabedian.<\/p>\n

While some observers have pegged the decline to a growing popularity of low-cost streaming services like Netflix and CraveTV, not everyone is convinced that the notoriously volatile box-office won’t pick up again in a few weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn September the tables turn,\u201d Tyghe suggested, pointing to Stephen King’s \u201cIt\u201d remake, which is currently projected to break box-office records for the month.<\/p>\n

Cineplex is discounting its tickets ahead of another weekend with very little in terms of new offerings.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Hitman’s Bodyguard,\u201d last week’s No. 1 film, is expected to hold the top spot while an expansion of indie thriller \u201cWind River\u201d and a re-release of 1991 Arnold Schwarzenegger flick \u201cTerminator 2: Judgement Day\u201d in 3D round out the highlights.<\/p>\n

Saturday night’s hyped pay-per-view fight between UFC fighter Conor McGregor and boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. is also expected to take a bite out of box-office receipts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TORONTO\u2014 Hollywood’s cruel summer of box-office flops has Cineplex hoping to reel in elusive audiences with a cheap movie ticket …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":114250,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,2,106],"tags":[14032,22022,22021],"class_list":["post-114248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","category-entertainment","category-hollywood","tag-cineplex","tag-discount-tickets","tag-summer-blockbusters","mauthors-david-friend","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}