Saskatoon cinema square-off: Rainbow to close, Landmark opens this week and Cineplex hot on its heels

• Landmark Cinemas opening new seven-screen theatre in Brighton area on Friday.
• Cineplexannounced Tuesday it will open its own east-side seven-screenerinmid-2019.
• Rainbow Cinemas at Centre Mall will close in May 2020.

Two rival exhibitors are after the hearts and buttsof east-end Saskatoon moviegoers.

Cineplex has confirmed it will build a new a seven-screen movie theatre to replace its existing Centre Cinemas at The Centre mall on 8th Street E.

Tuesday's announcement comes only three days before competitor Landmark Cinemas opens its own new seven-screen, all-reserved-seating multiplex in the Brighton neighbourhood, also on the city's east side.

"[It's] the Great Cinema War of 2018," says Craig Silliphant, a local film critic and entertainment journalist.

Duelling recliners

Sarah Van Lange, director of communications for Cineplex, said the announcement was planned for several months, "so making any connections would be inaccurate."

• Cineplexbutterspeople up for Centre Cinema makeover

But even without the identical screen count, other details of Cineplex's new theatre slated to open in mid-2019 either echo or seemingly seek to one-up features of the Landmark cinema, which opens Friday.

Just as each auditorium at the Landmark's Brighton theatre will feature reclining seats, so too will six of the seven cinemas at the new Cineplex location (along with UltraAVX sound systems).

Landmark CEO tries out a seat

6 years ago

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Landmark CEO tries out a seat

While Landmark CEO Bill Walker says the Brighton theatre will offer pre-noon screenings for busy parents and kids, Cineplex is touting "an auditorium designed specifically for families with young children with a colourful interior and playful seating."

The Brighton theatre was originally slated to open in early May. Just a week before, Cineplex retrofitted one of the auditoriums at its downtownScotiabank Theatre to featurean IMAX screen.

• Saskatoon's Imaxs actually a 'Liemax'

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"Cineplex has upped their game in that auditorium and has brought a new experience to the downtown site. And we're going to bring a new experience here," said Walker.

Landmark's general ticket price will be$12.99, compared to $12.50 for a general seat at Cineplex's downtown Scotiabank Theatre(i.e. a seatthat doesn't offer3D, IMAX, AVXor the ability to order a "Pineapple Upside Down Cake" martiniand nachos straight to your VIP seat).

Ticket pricing at the new Cineplex"will remain competitive in the market when we open," said Van Lange.

The overall result? Silliphant said competition is good for the consumer.

"I think the people that win out are us," he said

There can only be one

The Centre Cinemas will remain in operation until the new Cineplexmall location opens.

But the Rainbow Theatre owned by Magic Lantern Theatres which stands opposite the Centre Cinemas inside the mall will close its doors in May 2020.

The mall's owner, Morguard Corporation, declined to renew Rainbow'slease, according toMagic Lantern president Tom Hutchinson.

Cineplex, in a "not uncommon move," negotiated future "exclusivity at the mall for cinemas," said Hutchinson.

Silliphantsaid the departure of the Rainbow will create a gap in the Saskatoon market for mainstream fare.

"You lose a second-run, affordable theatre for families that might be lower-income or something like that," he said.

Rainbow's revenge

Dream Centresdeveloped the BrightonMarketplaceand owns the building. Magic Lantern,who leases the building,sold the rights to operate a theatre to Landmark earlier this year.

• Saskatoon's next movie theatre eyes May 2018 opening in suburban Brighton

Before the sale, "The Centre [Mall] said that they did not want any new cinema.They were going to eliminate the cinemas altogether from their tenant mix," said Hutchinson.

"And curiously, on the day theBrighton announcement was in the StarPhoenix, they changed their mind and phoned Cineplex. Isn't that strange?"

Morguard said it could not discuss the lease for confidentiality reasons, but added, "We look forward to continuing to offer exciting entertainment options to the people of Saskatoon."

Effective Friday, and "in honour of the construction of a new theatre there," The Rainbow will charge only $4 (down from $5) for general admission six days of the week, said Hutchinson."Tooney Tuesdays" will remain.

"The new theatre construction has disrupted our parking at The Centre and that is what our patrons care about," he said of the new pricing scheme, which will be in place for at least three months.

Hutchinson, who's pushing 70, says he wants to focus on the opening of a new theatre in North Battleford plus Magic Lantern's other Saskatoon property, the independent-film-focused Roxy theatre.

"The next two years there are going to be lots of fun," he said.

Hutchinson said he will miss the murals in the Rainbow lobby. Painted by Ontario artist Fred Harrison, they depict the many bridges of Saskatoon.

Rainbow Cinemas: The murals that will be missed

6 years ago

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Rainbow Cinemas: The murals that will be missed

"Really the only way you can appreciate the murals is by lying on your back on the floor of the hallway and looking up, because you can imagine you were floating down the river," said Hutchinson.

An alternative to downtown

Over at the Brighton theatre, Landmark has already pre-sold hundreds of tickets ahead of this Friday's soft opening, said Walker.

The company missed out on the first wave of summer blockbusters"Avengers, followed by Deadpool, followed by Solo: A Star Wars Story," said Walker.

But he expects "big volumes" for the June 22 opening of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

Walker offered an early tour of the Brighton theatre last week.

Inside Cinema 4 the largest auditorium at 200 seatsthe smell of leather seats was in the air. Much of the finishing work in the lobby remained to be done. Landscapers were busy dumping decorative rocks and planting trees in the parking lot.

"We're going to be ready," said Walker of this Friday's opening. "We've done a few of these in our history where you get down to the wire and it's always amazing what can happen with a good clean and the finish."

The theatre's unique position as the only cinema located in a Saskatoon suburb is part of why Landmark acquired the project from Magic Lantern, Walker said.

"It gives people some alternative versus going into the downtown core, which we understand can be a bit of a barrier to go out."

Silliphant says with both new venues open, it will be interesting to see where the popcorn kernels fall.

"I've talked to several people in the last few days that were like, 'No, I'll still go to Scotiabank' just because they live on the west side [and] they'd have to drive the entire length of the city," he said.

"But I know there are people who live in the suburbs that maybe aren't as acclimatized to the uniqueness of downtown and they don't always feel comfortable going down there," Silliphant added.

"That's not a thing for me; I live near the area so the Scotiabank's actually my closest theatre."

Now for our coming attraction

As Landmark opens its theatre Friday, please visit www.cbc.ca/saskatoon and check out "The Sound of Silents," a feature story on the very first movie theatres that opened in Saskatoon more than a century ago.