Corporate History
History of Cineplex Entertainment
Cineplex Entertainment is a Limited Partnership that was renamed in October 2005 upon completion of Cineplex Galaxy LP's acquisition of the Famous Players exhibition business. The name reflects the international brand equity in the Cineplex name and the broad scope of the company's focus on entertainment.
History of Famous Players
Famous Players was originally formed in 1920 as Famous Players Canadian Corporation. In 1994 Viacom Inc. purchased Famous Players and invested $500 million dollars in building 43 new theatres across Canada over four years, from 1997 to 2001. Famous Players operated 80 theatres with 785 screens, including partnerships with IMAX® and Alliance Atlantis at the time Cineplex Galaxy completed the acquisition.
History of Cineplex Odeon Corporation
Cineplex Odeon Corporation was founded in 1979 with the opening of its first theatre, a 21-screen megaplex at Toronto's Eaton Centre. In the 1980's, the company expanded through new construction and through acquisitions of regional theatre circuits in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Washington DC and Seattle.
Cineplex Odeon Corporation merged with Loews Theatres in May 1998, creating Loews Cineplex Entertainment, one of the world's largest motion picture theatrical exhibition companies at that time.
In March 2002, Onex Corporation, and Oaktree Capital Management acquired a restructured Loews Cineplex Entertainment. In November 2003, the Canadian assets of Cineplex Odeon Corporation were merged with Galaxy Entertainment Inc., to create Cineplex Galaxy LP.
History of Galaxy Entertainment Inc.
Galaxy Entertainment Inc (GEI) was co-founded in December 1999 by Ellis Jacob (former Chief Operating Officer for Cineplex Odeon Corporation) and Steven Brown (former Chief Financial Officer for Cineplex Odeon Corporation). In February 2000, the partnership expanded with the announcement of a strategic deal with Famous Players and Alliance Atlantis Communications who invested in the partnership.
Galaxy was formed to create state-of-the-art entertainment destinations in mid-size Canadian cities that were generally served by older, out-of-date cinemas. The company was successful from day one and went on to develop 19 theatres encompassing 154 screens over the next five years in six provinces across Canada. In November 2003, the assets of COC and GEI were combined to form CGLF.