Cathay Cineplexes

Cathay Cineplexes is a cinema chain established in 1939 in Singapore. The Cineplexes started as Cathay Cinema as Singapore's first air-conditioned cinema and first to screen American and British films in Singapore. The company is owned and operated by Singapore-listed media conglomerate mm2 Entertainment.

History

The first Cathay Cinema was located at the Cathay Building on 2 Handy Road, Singapore. It was the first air-conditioned cinema building in Singapore, opening on 3 October 1939 with the film The Four Feathers. The cinema had a seating capacity of 1,321 and ancillary spaces such as a women's lounge and a spacious lounge bar. The theatre was leased to and operated by Associated Theatres Ltd, but was later seconded by the colonial government and Malayan Broadcasting Corporation during WWII. The cinema was reopened in September 1945 when the Cathay Organisation regained full control.

Cathay became a household name in Singapore and Malaysia by the 1970s, where the chain owned and operated 75 cinemas at its peak. This included Singapore's only open-air drive-in cinema, the Jurong Drive-in, which opened on 14 July 1971. The drive-in cinema could accommodate 900 cars and an additional 300 people in its walk-in gallery. It was located on Yuan Ching Road, Jurong, next to the Japanese Garden. The Jurong Drive-in would close on 30 September 1985.

Acquisition by mm2 Asia

On 24 November 2017, mm2 Asia Ltd acquired the Singapore business operations operated by Cathay Cineplexes. mm2 Asia had earlier acquired Cathay's Malaysian cinema operations in September 2015. The two cinemas acquired were Cathay Cineplex Damansara at e@Curve in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, and Cathay Cineplex City Square at Johor Bahru City Square. The cinema chain added 3 more cineplexes in 2015, with the acquisition of Mega Cinemas Management Sdn Bhd's sites in Prai, Langkawi and Bertam. In 2016, mm2 Asia further acquired 13 cinemas in Malaysia from Lotus Fivestar Cinemas.

In June 2017, mm2 Asia entered into an agreement to acquire the 50% stake of Golden Village Multiplex cinema business in Singapore, held by Australia's Village Cinemas. However the deal was rejected by Orange Sky Golden Harvest Entertainment (Holdings) the owner of the other half-share of the Singapore business. In November of that same year (2017), mm2 Asia announced its intentions to acquire all of Cathay Cineplexes' Singapore cinema operations. In December 2020, mm2 Asia announced that it was in talks with Golden Village Singapore for a possible merger of its cinema businesses. The deal would be subject to approval from the shareholders of both mm2 Asia and Orange Sky Golden Harvest, as well as the Singapore Exchange, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore.

mm2 Asia is the only cinema operator with operations in Singapore and Malaysia, trading under the Cathay Cineplexes and mmCineplexes brands respectively.

Post COVID-19 and closures

The COVID-19 pandemic affected the movie production and cinema businesses, and Cathay Cineplexes was ordered to close for several months in 2020, before reopening at reduced capacities.

In August 2021, mm2 Asia entered into a sale and purchase agreement with Kingsmead Properties to sell its cinema business. The sale did not go through due to the "uncertainty arounds the Omicron variant dampening investor's appetites", as announced by Kingsmead in January 2022.

In June 2022, Cathay Cineplexes announced that it would be ceasing operations at its namesake cineplex at Handy Road by the end of that month after 83 years. The cinema space was taken over by independent cinema operator The Projector as Projector X: Picturehouse until June 2023, when the mall shuttered for a 2-year revamp. Cathay Cineplexes closed its Cineleisure Orchard outlet in June 2023, followed by its Parkway Parade cineplex two months later as both locations were deemed to be no longer profitable. However the company stated that the closures were part of its efforts to "right-size" its cinema operations, as it was also opening a new cinema in Century Square at Tampines in the fourth quarter of 2023.

The cineplex at AMK Hub was shuttered in June 2024 as the space had been earmarked for civic and community uses following the expiry of its lease. As part of their rightsizing operations, they also acquired the only WE Cinemas location at 321 Clementi in October that same year.

In January 2025, cinema chain Cathay Cineplexes received letters of demand for approximately S$2.7 million (US$2 million) in unpaid rent and other related costs for its operations at Century Square and Causeway Point.

In February 2025, Cathay Cineplexes closed its outlet at West Mall due to expiry of lease. It also shuttered its outlet at Jem shortly after in March 2025 as the landlord has seized its premises over rent due in arrears.

Operations

Singapore

Cathay Cineplexes currently operates 29 screens in 4 locations in Singapore.

* Cathay Cineplex Causeway Point
* Cathay Cineplex Downtown East
* Cathay Cineplex Century Square
* Cathay Cineplex Clementi 321

Malaysia

mmCineplexes currently operates 90 screenings in 12 locations in Malaysia.

* mmCineplexes Plus Berjaya Times Square, Kuala Lumpur
* mmCineplexes 1 Plaza, Kuala Selangor
* mmCineplexes D'Mall, Seri Iskandar
* mmCineplexes JB City Square, Johor Bahru
* mmCineplexes Kerian Sentral, Parit Buntar
* mmCineplexes Kiara Square, Bahau
* mmCineplexes Langkawi Parade, Kedah
* mmCineplexes Mahkota Parade, Melaka
* mmCineplexes MesaMall, Nilai
* mmCineplexes Prangin Mall, Penang
* mmCineplexes Segamat Central, Johor
* mmCineplexes Sunshine Bertam, Kepala Batas
* mmCineplexes The Summer Mall, Kuching

Cathay CineHome

Cathay CineHome is a direct-to-consumer rental streaming service for video-on-demand (VOD) by Cathay Cineplexes and mm2 Entertainment. The service was terminated in 2024.

References

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Cinemas in Singapore
1939 establishments in Singapore