Scotiabank Theatre

Scotiabank Theatre (French: Cinémas Banque Scotia) is a Canadian banner of multiplex cinemas owned by Cineplex Entertainment. The brand was established in 2007 as part of a wider partnership between Cineplex and Scotiabank on their new Scene loyalty program.[1]

Scotiabank Theatre
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryEntertainment
PredecessorParamount Theatre
FoundedMay 19, 1999 (1999-05-19)
Headquarters
Toronto, Ontario
Number of locations
10
Area served
Canada
OwnerNational Amusements (1999-2005)
Cineplex Entertainment (2005-present)
Websitecineplex.com

The brand is positioned as Cineplex's flagship banner, encompassing ten locations in major markets with a focus on offering premium amenities and formats. They include three locations that formerly operated under the Paramount Theatres brand prior to the acquisition of Famous Players by Cineplex (including the flagship Toronto location), as well as locations rebranded from other Cineplex banners.

History
Vancouver, BC
Ottawa, Ontario
The Famous Players Paramount Theatre logo used in the Toronto, Calgary, Montreal and Vancouver locations.

The first four locations opened in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver by Famous Players as Paramount theatres.[2] The Paramount Theatre banner was the trademark of Paramount Pictures, the film studio of former owner Famous Players' parent company Viacom. In 2005, Viacom sold Famous Players to Cinema Galaxy Income Fund — owner of Cineplex Galaxy Cinemas — creating the company Cineplex Entertainment. The theatres were rebranded as Scotiabank Theatres, under a sponsorship arrangement with Canadian bank Scotiabank. In 2007, Cineplex Entertainment and Scotiabank expanded their partnership by extending the Scotiabank Theatre banner nationwide, including the rebranding of other remaining Paramount Theatre locations, and by launching the "Scene" entertainment rewards program.[3]

The St. John's and Halifax locations were originally owned by Empire Theatres, but were purchased by Cineplex and rebranded as Cineplex Cinemas in October 2013, then to the Scotiabank Theatre brand in November 2014. Three more locations were formerly branded as SilverCity: the West Edmonton Mall location was rebranded on May 2, 2007,[4] while Ottawa and Winnipeg were rebranded in the summer of 2016.[5]

Three Scotiabank Theatre locations premiered the Barco Escape premium large format in Canada on July 22, 2016.[6][7]

Features

Premium screens
  • 4DX is currently available at both Alberta locations.[8] It will be available in Ottawa in 2020.
  • D-Box motion theatre technology is available at all Scotiabank Theatre locations. Normally, only one auditorium per location features this technology, but Calgary (Chinook) and Vancouver each have two such motion theatres.
    • Four locations, including those with two D-Box auditoriums, offer a D-Box UltraAVX option. This combines the motion theatre technology with 4K resolution and enhanced Dolby sound.
  • IMAX is available at most locations, except for Saskatoon and Vancouver. All locations offer Digital IMAX technology, but Scotiabank Theatre Toronto features IMAX with Laser, a significant improvement with 4K resolution and better colour. As of July 2017, IMAX 70 mm film playback is available at both Alberta locations. Cinemas in Ottawa, Toronto and Winnipeg discontinued film playback.[9]
  • ScreenX features a 270-degree panoramic screen, and is available at the Toronto and Vancouver locations.[10]
    • Cineplex previously offered Barco Escape at these locations and at the Edmonton location. This format premiered in Canada on July 22, 2016 with Star Trek Beyond, featuring 20 minutes of the film optimised for this format.[6]
  • UltraAVX is available at most locations, except for Ottawa, Winnipeg and Atlantic locations. These theatres offer 4K resolution and enhanced Dolby sound.
  • VIP Cinemas is exclusively available in three auditoriums at Scotiabank Theatre Saskatoon.

Virtual reality

In November 2017, an IMAX VR centre opened at Scotiabank Theatre Toronto, as IMAX VR's first location in Canada. The following month, a D-Box VR experience launched at the Ottawa location.[11][12]

Locations
Former fire-breathing dragon animatronic at the West Edmonton Mall location. Removed in 2014 due to maintenance costs

There are currently ten locations:[13]

  • St. John's - Scotiabank Theatre St. John's (former Empire Studio 12 and Cineplex Cinemas), located in the Avalon Mall.
  • Halifax - Scotiabank Theatre Halifax (former Empire 18, former Cineplex Cinemas Bayers Lake); located in the Bayers Lake Business Park.
  • Montreal - Cinéma Banque Scotia.
  • Ottawa - Scotiabank Theatre Ottawa (former SilverCity Gloucester).
  • Toronto - Scotiabank Theatre Toronto (former Paramount Theatre).
  • Winnipeg - Scotiabank Theatre Winnipeg (former SilverCity Polo Park), located in the Polo Park Mall.
  • Saskatoon - Scotiabank Theatre Saskatoon and VIP (former Galaxy Cinemas)
  • Calgary - Scotiabank Theatre Chinook; located in the Chinook Centre mall (former Paramount Theatre)
  • Edmonton - Scotiabank Theatre Edmonton, located in the West Edmonton Mall (former SilverCity from 1999 until around 2007)
  • Vancouver - Scotiabank Theatre Vancouver (former Paramount Theatre)

Restaurants

As with many Cineplex locations, Scotiabank Theatre offers pizza and coffee at all of its locations. Montreal adds two Tim Hortons restaurants: a larger one on Saint Catherine Street that is accessible to the public, and a smaller one near the concession stand that is only available to theatre patrons. As these are Cineplex locations, they will accept Cineplex gift cards and Scotiabank Scene rewards, but not Tim Hortons gift cards. Alcohol is served at the Edmonton, Ottawa, Saskatoon and Toronto locations. Ottawa and Toronto have all their auditoriums licensed for alcohol consumption. The Saskatoon location only has its VIP auditoriums licensed for alcohol.

Gaming

Both Alberta locations (Chinook Centre in Calgary and the West Edmonton Mall)[14] and the Ottawa location offer an Xscape Entertainment Centre arcade. These arcades use swipe cards instead of token coins. Coins remain in use at several other Scotiabank Theatre locations.

See also

References
  1. "Scotiabank to put its name on Cineplex theatres". CBC News. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
  2. "Famous Players Paramount Theatres". Famous Players. Archived from the original on April 18, 2001. Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  3. "Cineplex Entertainment and Scotiabank launch first national Canadian entertainment loyalty rewards program and rename three major Cineplex theatres". newswire.ca. May 2, 2007.
  4. Marshall, Pat (May 2, 2007). "CINEPLEX ENTERTAINMENT AND SCOTIABANK LAUNCH FIRST NATIONAL CANADIAN ENTERTAINMENT LOYALTY REWARDS PROGRAM AND RENAME THREE MAJOR CINEPLEX THEATRES" (PDF). Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  5. "SilverCity Polo Park gets rebranded as Scotiabank Theatre Winnipeg". www.cbc.ca. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  6. Van Lange, Sarah (July 7, 2016). "Barco Escape Coming Soon to Three Cineplex Theatres" (PDF). Cineplex. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  7. "Star Trek Beyond". Barco. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  8. 4DX
  9. "EXPERIENCE DUNKIRK IN IMAX 70MM FILM AND IMAX WITH LASER". IMAX.com. June 27, 2017. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  10. ScreenX
  11. "Toronto's new IMAX VR arcade shows how virtual reality can shape your local theater". The Verge. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
  12. "Virtual Cineplex: Canada's leading circuit unveils a new entertainment reality". Film Journal International. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
  13. "Find A Theatre". Cineplex. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
  14. "XSCAPE - Participating Theatres". Cineplex.com. November 25, 2017. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
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