Founded in 1966, CGR Cinemas has since grown into France’s second-largest exhibition chain, boasting more than 700 screens across the country and a premium export branch in the guise of ICE Theaters. Since the beginning, the business has both remained in the hands of the Raymond family and stayed anchored in the southwest town of La Rochelle.

After putting the company up for sale in 2022, its owners Jean-Luc and Charles Raymond decided to hold on to it when the B.O. showed clear signs of post-pandemic recovery this past May. Along with abruptly canceling a sales deal, the owners also laid off its leadership, including its managing director Jocelyn Bouyssy, who had been at the company for 37 years and launched the ICE premium format, among other successful diversification initiatives. Bouyssy has been replaced by Laurent Desmoulins as directing manager. Both Desmoulins and Charles Raymond will be on-hand at this year’s CineEurope, accompanying the wider ICE Theaters team to show force on the convention floor.

“The group is staying in the family fold,” says ICE Theaters senior VP sales and strategy Guillaume Thomine Desmazures. “And that’s a very reassuring message, both for the French industry and for ICE Theaters’ international exhibition partners. We can offer a guarantee of continuity and stability, as the group will not go over to an investment fund. We’re going to continue operating our movie theaters, which have over 700 screens in 72 cinemas.”

Asked what caused the sudden about face after two years of deal talk, the ICE exec was circumspect.

“Quite simply, the bidders and offers didn’t offer the necessary guarantees to continue the strategies already put in place,” says Thomine Desmazures. “When you receive offers and you say to yourself, ‘I’m not convinced that these future owners will continue to make the CGR brand prosper,’ then at a certain point, the existing owner steps in to continue with the group’s vision and assure the existing strategy.”

Looking forward, the exec anticipates little impact on the export business, as ICE Theaters continues to introduce its Immersive Cinema Experience premium model to markets across the globe.

At this year’s CineEurope, for instance, ICE brass touted the recent success of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” within the house format, sharing figures that saw ICE-equipped rooms doubling occupation rates when compared with more standard issue cinemas, adding a 67% to admission sales, and welcoming 200,000 moviegoers within the film’s first two weeks. When matched with the long tail of “Avatar: The Way of Water,” 2023 has already bested the annual score from 2019, with anticipated windfalls from “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One,” and “Dune – Part Two” still to come.

All of which gives the exec a very rosy outlook.

 “We will continue to develop the ICE format, opening up new territories, and launching additional partnership strategies with exhibitors,” says Thomine Desmazures. “The historic operator will remain the operator and won’t switch to a hedge fund or financial company. CGR is still a family company – one that has always been in the exhibition business. They know the trade inside out, they know how to get through crises, and they know how to keep moving forward.”

Read More About:

Source: Read Full Article