SY-LED SM Prime Holdings, Inc. has signed a deal with IMAX Corp. for the opening of two more theaters in the country following the success of the Mall of Asia cinema. Rick Camaligan, vice-president for operations of SM’s leisure group, told BusinessWorld that the theaters would be in The Block at SM City North Edsa, Quezon City and SM City Cebu.
The firm, he said, had allotted over P100 million each for the additional IMAX theaters, which would open in the third and last quarters of 2009. SM Prime is the exclusive partner of IMAX in the Philippines.
‘The impact of the IMAX theater in Mall of Asia was enough to convince and give us an idea that there’s a market to support the IMAX theater,’ Mr. Camaligan said.
The 600-seat theater in Mall of Asia, he claimed, was consistently the best-performing IMAX cinema in the world for blockbusters like Superman and Spiderman. Figures for IMAX ticket sales were not available yesterday, but SM Prime said in its financial statement for the nine months ending September 2007 that SM’s overall cinema ticket sales grew by 21%, due mainly to new cinemas and Mall of Asia’s IMAX, which opened in May 2006. Mr. Camaligan said IMAX still has to fabricate the new theaters since they would be using a digital format.
‘These would be ready to operate by next year,’ he said. Unlike the Mall of Asia theater, which makes use of projectors and reels, the new cinemas would play movies saved on a hard disc, Mr. Camaligan said.
‘But the impact would be the same,’ he said. He added that the new IMAX theaters would have smaller screens — 14 meters, as opposed to the 22-meter high screen currently being used in the Mall of Asia — but the picture ‘will be clearer.’ Mr. Camaligan said SM North was chosen as the second mall to have an IMAX theater because of its foot traffic.
The 331,861-square meter mall has 315,000 visitors a day and counts Quezon City, Bulacan, and other nearby areas as its markets. SM City North Edsa’s visitors account for 10% of the total daily visits for all SM malls.
‘SM City North is the farthest we can go up north which can be viable,’ Mr. Camaligan said. He also said that the 400-seat Cebu theater would cater to the Visayas and Mindanao population.
SM Cebu, which is frequented by residents of Cebu as well as nearby areas like Bohol, has a daily foot traffic of 150,000 people.
‘There are people from the Visayas and Mindanao who come all the way to Mall of Asia to experience the IMAX, and they have been wanting us to put up a theater there. Cebu, after Metro Manila, has the biggest population,’ Mr. Camaligan said.
The IMAX theater in The Block, Mr. Camaligan said, would replace the current Cinema 4 which can seat 500 people. Once converted into an IMAX theater, the cinema would seat 400.
The Cebu IMAX theater would likewise replace Cinema 4 of SM Cebu. Renovation, Mr. Camaligan said, is ongoing. Both theaters will be opened under a long-term lease agreement, Mr. Camaligan said.
Cinema ticket prices for SM North Edsa’s IMAX would likely approximate those in Mall of Asia, while the Cebu cinema would be priced P50 to P100 lower.
Prices for the Mall of Asia IMAX cinema are P350 to P400 apiece, depending on the screening time. Mr. Camaligan also said that depending on how the two new theaters would fare, SM Prime plans to open more IMAX cinemas in the country.
‘Our management [thrust] is to continue extending to the public the real experience of seeing movies,’ he said.
Already being eyed to host the next IMAX theater, Mr. Camaligan said, is the 331,679-square meter SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City, the Sy-led group’s third biggest mall after the 386,224-square meter Mall of Asia and SM City North Edsa.
SM estimates place that mall’s pedestrian traffic at 200,000 people per day. SM Prime is the Sy family’s mall operator and developer. It operates 30 SM malls as of end-2007. By end-2008, the company will have 33 malls.
IMAX is one of the world’s leading digital entertainment and technology companies. Its theaters deliver cinematic presentations using proprietary technology that display crystal-clear images on the world’s biggest screens. As of September 2007, there were 296 IMAX theaters operating in 40 countries.