Cinema operator Cinema City will open four new multiplexes in Romania this year, in Bucharest, Timisoara, Buzau, and Piatra-Neamt.

The company will thus continue its expansion in the local market. Last year, Cinema City inaugurated five multiplexes in Bucharest, Constanta, Deva, Drobeta Turnu Severin, and Suceava. It has invested some EUR 27 million in these openings, reports local Mediafax.

Cinema City, which is part of Cineworld Group, has a network of 22 cinemas and almost 200 cinema halls in Romania.

In 2015, the company has consolidated its position of market leader in Romania, based on the number of theaters, sold tickets, and tech innovations. Moreover, Cinema City Romania has also strengthened its position within the group, going up to the third place in Cineworld’s network, based on the number of cinemas and cinema halls, after the UK and Poland.

One of Cinema City’s most important openings last year was in Bucharest’s new shopping center Mega Mall. The multiplex has 14 rooms, including the first 4DX cinema in Romania. The total investment amounted to EUR 6.5 million. The second 4DX cinema was opened Constanta later the same year.

In late-2007, when Cinema City opened its first two multiplexes in Romania (in Iasi and Timisoara), Romania had a cinema to 299,000 inhabitants and a screen to 184,000 people, according to data from the National Film Center, cited by Cinema City. Thus, the cinema operator had 2 of the country’s 72 cinemas and 12 of the 117 cinema halls. Eight years later, Cinema City runs 22 multiplexes in Romania, dominating more than half of the local market.

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Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com