Screengrab from doubledragon.com.ph
The shopping mall arm of property developer DoubleDragon Properties Corp. is debuting in the cinema business in partnership with broadcasting giant ABS-CBN Corp. (ABS-CBN).
In a disclosure on Wednesday, DoubleDragon said its flagship subsidiary CityMall Commercial Centers Inc. (CityMall) had teamed up with ABS-CBN to roll out cinemas in various provincial areas of the country.
ABS-CBN said in a separate statement that under the partnership, the television network would manage the booking and the food and beverage operations of CityMall theaters while CityMall would build and open the cinema infrastructure.
In the second quarter of 2017, 10 cinemas are scheduled to open in CityMalls located in Tagum City-Davao, Victorias CityNegros, Anabu-Imus Cavite, Cotabato City, Bulua-Cagayan de Oro City, Koronodal City, Consolacion-Cebu, MandalaganBacolod City, Sta. Rosa-Nueva Ecija and Dumaguete City.
Each cinema will have a seating capacity of 100 to 120 seats.
ABS-CBN unit Star Cinema is the country’s largest motion picture company and has produced the highest-grossing Filipino films of all time.
Aside from showing Filipino blockbusters, CityMall also plans to offer international box office films and “cutting edge” digital facilities at its cinemas.
CityMall said it intended to fill up the gap in the provincial cinema space, noting that majority of the more than 140 cities in the Philippines did not have cinemas today.
“Today marks the completion of the three strong corner points which will solidify the future dominance of CityMall all over the country. We will now have the best modern retail brands, the strongest fast-food brands, and leading entertainment all in one roof,” said Edgar Sia II, DoubleDragon chair.
CityMall, which is 34-percent owned by leading conglomerate SM Investments Corp., is developing a chain of community malls in second- and third-tier cities across the Philippines. The plan is to build 100 CityMalls by 2020. —Doris Dumlao-Abadilla