Cathay Cineplexes to take over WE Cinemas in Clementi from Nov. 1, 2024

Cinema chain Cathay Cineplexes will acquire and take over the operations of WE Cinemas at 321 Clementi, which opened nine years ago in 2015.

From Nov. 1, 2024, the cinema will assume operations as Cathay Cineplexes Clementi 321.

This was announced by mm2 Asia Ltd, the owner of Cathay Cineplexes, and Eng Wah Global Pte Ltd, which wholly owns EW Cinemas Pte Ltd, in an Oct. 18 press release.

The acquisition will bring the number of Cathay Cineplexes cinemas in Singapore to six and its number of screens across the island to 45.

Thanked patrons of WE Cinemas at 321 Clementi

In the press release, Goh Min Yen, managing director of Eng Wah, expressed the company's gratitude for the "phenomenal support" from its cinema patrons since the opening of WE Cinemas at 321 Clementi.

Goh added that his team is "committed to supporting the new management for the transition".

He did not share whether the company has plans to re-open WE Cinemas elsewhere following the closure of its only outlet in Singapore.

'Difficult time' for cinema business

Speaking on the acquisition, mm2 Asia Executive Chairman Melvin Ang said it demonstrates the company's "continued confidence in the cinema business" and its "steadfast belief" that blockbusters will return to its screens soon.

According to Ang, the cinema business "has not fully recovered in the past three years post-Covid-19", and its recovery is "taking longer than expected".

Some of the factors for the delay include "mandated closures to limited capacity occupancies due to social distancing" and "strikes in Hollywood", which "resulted in a blockbuster shortage".

However, Ang said the situation appeared to be improving, as the international cinema business "has seen a resurgence at the box office" and investments experienced "a global uptick" in recent months.

Cathay Cineplexes closed several outlets

Against this backdrop, mm2 Asia embarked on "a journey of rightsizing Cathay Cineplexes," said Ang.

Following its unsuccessful sale of the cinema chain to Kingsmead Properties in January 2022, mm2 Asia closed its cinemas at The Cathay, Cineleisure, and Parkway Parade between June 2022 and August 2023.

Most recently, it also shut down Cathay Cineplexes' AMK Hub branch in June 2024 as the space "was to be redesignated for other uses", added Ang.

'Rightsizing exercise gone well'

While Ang acknowledged that these actions "inevitably raised concerns and doubts" about the company's abilities to continue the cinema business, he shared the "rightsizing exercise has gone well".

"Our current structure places us in a much better position for when business rebounds, not long from now as we expect it to," said Ang.

He cited Cathay Cineplexes's new locations in Century Square in Tampines, which opened in November 2023, and Clementi 321 as examples.

"We will hopefully include a few more as we monitor the rest of the recovery," stated Ang.

He also revealed that the same rightsizing plans will be adopted in Cathay Cineplexes' cinemas in Malaysia as well.

Currently, mm2 Asia has 13 locations with 99 screens in Malaysia operating under the mmCineplexes label, according to the press release.

Top image via Google Maps