Palace to launch 3D in Mandeville
Published:Friday | October 29, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Correction & Clarification
In the story titled 'Palace to launch 3D in Mandeville', the Jamaican dollar equivalent of the investment was incorrectly stated as J$43 million. The correct figure is J$4.3 million.
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The Graham family-controlled Palace Amuse-ment Company is retro-fitting its underperforming Mandeville cinema to offer 3D movies, starting Christmas.
The cinema company is spending US$50,000 (J$4.3 million) on the project.
Its initial roll-out of 3D screens last year July in three other cinemas in Kingston at Carib 5 and Palace Cineplex, and in Montego Bay at Palace Multiplex, was a J$110-million investment, said Marketing Manager Melanie Graham.
Graham said the new offering has been pulling in business for Palace but said it was difficult to quantify.
"It has been performing up to expectations," she said.
"We know that introducing 3D adds value to the movie experience and it is something that cannot be had at home."
The regular price to view a 3D movie at the Carib cinema is J$960 for adults and J$660 for children. Box office prices are $1,160, adults, and J$800, children.
Graham said Palace, whose business has faltered in recent years because of lost market share to cheaper, pirated movies, is banking on the 3D experience as catalyst.
"We hope it will help to bring more persons, especially the young people, out to the movies and dissuade them from patronage of the bootleg DVDs," she said.
Over the years, Palace Amusement has reported that company profits have taken a hit from piracy in the local market, with the problem being most chronic in its Mandeville outlet.
That cinema has still not regained profitability, Graham said.
With 3D screens now in the cinemas for a full year, Palace, at its financial year end June 2010, recovered from a loss position to report net profit of J$9.4 million on the back of improved revenue in all business segments.
The company lost J$5.3 million in 2009. Palace, meanwhile, is still hunting for a locale to site a sixth cinema, while seeking buyers for the property where its mothballed Harbour View Drive-In theatre stands.