Cinépolis VIP was created in 1999 and is considered one of the pioneers in the development of the Luxury Cinema concept.
In 1997, Cineticket was created to give users the option to buy their tickets online instead of waiting to purchase at the venue. Cineticket was the first online theater ticket-selling-system in Mexico.
Cinépolis has opened theaters in the capitals of Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia. Cinépolis attempted to expand their business to Ecuador, but failed. So far, 11 theatres have been opened outside Mexico under the Cinépolis brand, with a planned expansion to Peru, with the opening of a fourteen-screen theatre in Lima, a theatre in Cali, Colombia and a third in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Cinépolis entered the Argentinian market through its acquisition of Village Cines in 2017.
Cinepolis entered India in January 2015 by acquiring Fun Cinemas, an Indian multiplex theater chain. It was based in Mumbai, and was originally established in 2001 by Essel Group. At the time of the acquisition, Fun Cinemas operated 24 multiplexes with 83 screens in India.
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Cinépolis planned to operate 500 screens in India with an investment of ₹ 1,500 crore and signed deals with 12 developers in eight cities to set up 110 screens in the first phase. There were also plans to enter into deals with developers to create 200 more screens across India by 2010. As of September 2024, Cinepolis India operates around 450 screens. It plans to add 80 screens in 2025.
Cinépolis opened its largest Megaplex in India in Seasons Mall, Pune with 15 screens. It also operates another Megaplex at Viviana Mall, Thane with 14 screens including IMAX, 4DX, and Dolby Atmos screens. Cinepolis Kochi operates 3 VIP screens while Cinepolis Thane operates 4 VIP screens, the first of its kind in India. Cinépolis also had a sub-brand in India known as Cinemastar. It was opened in December 2010 in Thane and was later rebranded as a Cinepolis cinema.
West Asia
In October 2017, Cinépolis CEO Alejandro Ramírez announced plans to expand into West Asia, with Ashish Shukla, former expansion chief at Cinépolis India, leading the expansion. The expansion was set to add an unspecified number of screens in Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the UAE by 2018. Cinépolis Gulf commenced operations in Bahrain in January 2019 and in Oman in May 2019
In Bahrain, Cinépolis operates a 13-screen cinema at Atrium Mall in Saar, which opened in January 2019 and includes Bahrain's first Junior theatre and 4D E-motion viewing experience, as well as two large-format screens, MacroXE with Dolby Atmos.
In Oman, a Cinépolis Luxury Cinema at Oman Avenues Mall in Muscat offers four VIP auditoriums, alongside a Junior auditorium, a MacroXE auditorium with Dolby Atmos, and 4D E-motion screens in the adjacent Cinépolis Cinema. Another cinema at Oasis Mall in Sohar opened in 2019 and features eight screens alongside a Junior theatre.
In 2020, Cinépolis expanded into the UAE with a 10-screen multiplex in Oasis Mall in Sharjah. Another cinema located at Circle Mall in Jumeirah Village, Dubai opened in 2023 but has since permanently closed.
In 2019, Cinépolis announced it will invest $300 million in six cinema complexes with 63 screens in Saudi Arabia.In 2023, Cinépolis opened its fourth cinema in Saudi Arabia, located at Al Masarah Square in Jeddah, featuring 6 luxury screening rooms as well as a Junior auditorium.
United States
Cinépolis USA, which is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, began operating luxury theaters in the United States in 2011. In November 2018, it created the Bay Theatre in Pacific Palisades, California, based on an original 1940s design by architect S. Charles Lee as a plush five-screen cinema that features a coastal-themed menu at its concession stand, including an extensive wine list. One auditorium of the new Bay Theatre is equipped with an increasingly rare 35 mm film projector. It also has a 12-screen luxury movie theater at Hollywood Park, on the site of the former Hollywood Park racetrack in Inglewood, California next to SoFi Stadium, which opened on 12 July 2023. In 2019, it acquired Moviehouse & Eatery to grow its presence in the United States.
On 9 August 2019, Cinepolis reopened its Mansfield, New Jersey location after renovations. It features 13 screens and luxury leather recliners with a full kitchen menu and bar. On January 5, 2020, Cinepolis announced it had closed its theater in Roxbury Township, New Jersey. On July 28, 2021, Cinepolis confirmed it had closed its location in Parsippany, New Jersey.
On 8 January 2023, Cinepolis closed its NYC location in Chelsea.
Indonesia
In October 2018, Cinépolis announced a collaboration with Cinemaxx, owned by Indonesia's Lippo Group, by acquiring 40% ownership stake. Cinemaxx, at that time, operated 45 theaters with 225 screens. Following the acquisition, Cinépolis opened its first cineplex on 18 September 2019 at Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara followed by the rebranding of all Cinemaxx multiplexes into Cinépolis until Q4 2019.
