CJ Group Chairman Lee Jay-hyun.

Korea’s multiplex cinema chain CJ CGV opened the CGV Dongguan Guomao in Donggwan City, Guangdong Province, China, on Dec. 18, marking CGV’s 500th motion-picture house in Korea and abroad.

Korea’s multiplex cinema chain CJ CGV opened the CGV Dongguan Guomao in Donggwan City, Guangdong Province, China, on Dec. 18, marking CGV’s 500th motion-picture house in Korea and abroad.

CGV Dongguan Guomao is located in the shopping mall GD, the largest in Dongguan City. CGV Dongguan Guomao, the 112th branch in China, is a 1,715-seat multiplex motion-picture house with 12 screens, including special theaters such as 4DX, Screen X, IMAX and Gold Class.

Fourteen more CGV branches will be opened overseas in such places as Guangzhou, Chengdu, China, Hanoi, Hai Phong, Vietnam, Probolinggo, and Madiun, Indonesia in 2018. The additions will bring the number of theaters and the number of screens to 514 and 3,756, respectively in the first 12 months of 2018.

The Korean theater industry has shown signs of stagnation in a few recent years. CJ CGV is on roll with solid growth. The secret of the company’s growth lies in the company’s success on the global stage. The industry has been struggling since 2013 when annual film audiences topped 210 million. The nation’s total theater revenues have hovered over around 1.8 trillion won.

CJ CGV is the nation’s largest theater chain. CJ CGV saw revenues soar to 1,714.4 trillion won in 2017, a 1.87 fold jump from 915.9 billion won in 2013. The company also witnessed operating profit surge from 51.5 billion won to 96.2 billion won during the same period. CJ CGV’s higher growth rate is owed to the company’s exploring of foreign markets.

CJ CGV’s 500th branch came 20 years after the multiplex chain opened CGV Gangbyeon in 1998, its first branch.
CG CGV entered China in 2006 by making the most of its competitive edge in Korea, the United States in 2010, Indonesia in 2013, Myanmar in 2014 and Turkey in 2016.

CJ CGV opened its 100th branch in 2015, in China, nine years after its entry into the country in 2006. CJ CGV saw the number of branches on the global stage make a 3.5-fold jump in three years since 2015 when it opened its 100th branch in China. With its acquisition of MARS Entertainment Group in 2016, CJ CGV saw its overseas branches outnumber its Korean counterparts. The company is forecast to see its overseas revenues surpass sales in Korea in 2019.

CJ CGV President Choi Byung-hwan said, “It takes on significance since a rise in overseas CGV theaters represents its role as a platform to spread hallyu culture (Korean Wave), surpassing simply quantitative growth.”

The company is expected to contributing to spreading K-movie by continuously introducing homegrown films through CGVs and helping Korean film firms to enter foreign countries, he added.

An entrance of CJ CGV Yeounido in Seoul. (Photos: CJ)