New | Emperor to build cinemas in Chengdu, Chongqing to tap record box office

Emperor Group, Hong Kong media magnate Albert Yeung Sau-shing’s property and entertainment group, said it will open more cinemas in two of China’s most heavily populated metropolitan areas to tap the country’s surging box office growth.

The cinemas will open in 2017 in Chongqing and the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu, with 44 million in combined population between the two cities.

The Chongqing cinema will feature 2,200 seats in 120,000 square feet of cinemas occupying three floors of the Shin Kong Place, an upscale destination for the nouveau riche in China’s largest municipality.

The Chengdu complex will take up 55,000 square feet, featuring 10 screens and an IMAX system.

Encouraged by a surging growth in China’s box office takings, Emperor and theme park developer Dalian Wanda Group are buying and building cinema networks to create a so-called supply chain in movies and entertainment.

Emperor, which has extensive investments in producing movies, was among the first Hong Kong company to carve out a share in China’s cinema market,