An affiliate of the country’s largest mall builder and operator cinema said it plans to open two more high-end theaters in Metro Manila and Cebu next year.

Edgar Tejerero, West Avenue Theater Corp. senior vice president said SM Prime Holdings Inc.’s affiliate firm would open an IMAX theater in Cebu City by November or December this year.

Then it will open its fourth IMAX theater in SM Taguig in Fort Bonifacio, which would be completed by the final quarter of next year.

“We’re now positioning IMAX as [a] premier cinema [for] Hollywood [movies],” Tejerero told reporters on the sidelines of the opening of the IMAX theater at SM City North EDSA.

This is a deviation from how SM has marketed its first IMAX theater at the Mall of Asia, which was seen as a cinema that showcases educational films. It was opened in 2006.

He added that West Avenue is always looking at possibility of putting up fifth IMAX theater at SM Megamall in Madaluyong City.

“Annually, gross ticket sales amounted to P2.5 billion, this includes the digital cinemas,” the official said.

Tejerero said the company is confident that the rampant sale of pirated movies in the country will not have a significant impact on their ticket sales.

“There are a number of good films that you won’t appreciate if you’re just watching on a small screen,” he said.

To date, the total number of IMAX seats in SM Mall of Asia and SM North EDSA has reached 1,076. The occupancy rate is around 70 percent to 100 percent, depending on the movie being showed, Tejerero said.

The new P120-million theater in Quezon City is a major component of the mall’s ongoing redevelopment of SM North.

IMAX technology premiered at the Fuji Pavilion, EXPO ’70 in Osaka, Japan. The first permanent IMAX projection system was installed at Ontario Place’s Cinesphere in Toronto in 1971.

Today, the IMAX Theater Network consists of more than 250 IMAX affiliated theaters in 36 countries. About 60 percent of the theaters are located in North America, while the remaining 40 percent are spread internationally. — Chino S. Leyco