Kinepolis Ostende opens its doors
Exactly one year after the opening of Kinepolis Bruges, Belgian exhibitor the Kinepolis Group opened its latest complex at Ostende last weekend.
The group’s 11th complex houses eight theatres with a seating capacity of 1,755. It is the first European cinema to use the QSC Audio Basis 922az /914lz THX certified technology.
The complex is also presenting a pilot project for 3D digital cinema. Kinepolis plans to eventually equip all of its 23 complexes with a 3D screening theatre.
Based on the same concept as that in Bruges (see news) – which had a more than promising opening (500,000 cinemagoers in the first year of exhibition) – Kinepolis Ostende is also equipped with an "open foyer", a commercial and social space accessible without a ticket.
This new generation of cinema has done away with manual ticket sales and control with the introduction of a seat reservation system and automatic ticket control. The group plans to equip all of its Belgian complexes with the system. The next cinema to see these changes will be Courtrai.
As for the next Kinepolis, it is planned to be built on the Liege Médiacité (see news), based on the same concept, and include eight theatres.
While attendance figures at Kinepolis in the first quarter of 2007 have been disappointing – 5.7m filmgoers, down 6% from last year – the group attracted 23.9m visitors in 2006 at its 23 complexes across Europe. With cinemas in Belgium, France, Spain, Poland and Switzerland, the group is showing an 80% rise compared to 2005 (see news) and its share price has virtually doubled, increasing from €27 to €55.
Some big releases, such as the Shrek and Harry Potter franchises, are expected to boost the exhibitor’s 2007 figures.
(Translated from French)
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