(Toronto) A court will hear the Cineplex appeal concerning a record fine of 38.9 million for deceptive commercial practices this fall.
The film operator revealed Tuesday that the case will be brought before the Federal Court of Appeal on October 8.
The chief executive Ellis Jacob rejoiced at the date set.
“I think it’s a good thing, because we are now to the point where we can go ahead and we are comfortable with our position,” he told the Canadian press.
The Competition Court inflicted the pecuniary sanction on Cineplex last September, after the country’s competition supervisory organization alleged that the company had misleaded spectators by not immediately presenting the total price of a cinema ticket when purchasing their online places.
The indication of partial price at the heart of the case of the Competition Office concerned costs of $ 1.50 that Cineplex began to apply in June 2022 to many customers not registered with its Plus Cinéclub and loyalty subscription programs. These fees were deleted and reduced to $ 1, respectively.
The competition office allegedly alleged that these costs constituted a partial price indication – a practice of encouraging customers to buy without revealing the final cost.
Cineplex did not agree. The company appealed to the sanction, believing that it has quickly informed its customers of the costs that can be avoided by buying places in person in the cinema.
However, the company decided to respond to office concerns in November 2024 by modifying how its online booking costs are communicated to moviegoers.
Loss in the second quarter
The announcement of the hearing date for this case occurred while Cineplex revealed a loss of 2.2 million during its last quarter, its income having increased by 30.5 % compared to the previous year.
The loss amounted to 3 hundred per share for the closed quarter on June 30, against a loss of 21.4 million, or 33 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.
The turnover of the quarter totaled 361.8 million, against 277.3 million a year earlier, while room attendance amounted to 11.6 million people, compared to 8.7 million.
“I found the quarter excellent and we recorded excellent records,” said Jacob.
Cineplex has established historic quarterly records in terms of box office revenues per spectator, with $ 13.68, and dealerships per spectator, with $ 10.04.
The spectators were attracted by A Minecraft moviewhich had the best start of the year and the most important ever recorded for an adaptation of video games, and by Mission : Impossible – Bilan finalwhich obtained the best start of the franchise in the United States.
At the same time, F1: the film Known the best world start for an original Apple film, with almost 77 % of its opening weekend box office from Premium formats, according to Mr. Jacob.
These successful films have marked a rebound for the film exploitation sector, which had suffered in recent years from two strikes in Hollywood.
“The situation improves. We are not yet 100 % of the level where we were (before strikes) … But I am very enthusiastic, “said Jacob.
“I think we will get closer to the 130 releases in theaters before the pandemic. I think we will reach 120, which is very positive. »»
The rebound he predicted will occur during his last year as chief executive officer. Mr. Jacob will retire in late 2026.
He said that he was waiting for the resumption of activity before leaving to spend more time with his family and, possibly, obtaining a law diploma.
“The sector really resumed and I wanted it to resume and that the company has the feeling of being stable,” he concluded.