Holy Monopoly Cineplex

Some big Canadian movie news this week is that Cineplex Galaxy has purchased, main competitor, Famous Players.

As a result, Cineplex would control 63% of all Canadian theatres.

This is definitely the end of the era for me. For my whole life, it was always Cineplex Odeon and Famous Players. In fact there used to be both a Cineplex and Famous Players very close to my house (those are both now closed).

My biggest concern with this merger (other than the large monopoly — though Cineplex does have to sell 35 theatres), is the difference in Ticket Prices between Cineplex and Famous Players.

For the last few months, Famous Players has been advertising ticket prices at a greatly reduced price ($9.95 CND or less), while Cineplex’s tickets stayed the same. I wonder, now that they are owned by Cineplex, if Famous Players is going to keep that price or raise it to match Cineplex’s.

I also wonder if Famous Players is going to keep it’s name or if all Cineplex Gallaxy theatres are going to have the same name.

I’m sure all of these questions will be answered in the coming months.