Cinema Plus, the public company which holds the IMAX franchise for Australia and New Zealand, has been put in the hands of Sydney administrators Ferrier Hodgson, three-and-a-half years after listing on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Steve Sherman, who is in charge as a result of the move, said the company would have to be restructured before it could be determined whether it was a viable business. He blamed high rental costs as one of the company's major problems. Australian landlord MTM Entertainment has also suspended trading since the arrival of administrators. Another major creditor is Toronto-based IMAX Corporation.
Cinema Plus has five screens in Australia and one each in Bangkok and Auckland. It was very rare that a large format film was not included in Australia's top 20 chart despite the small number of screens.
New Zealand's Force Corporation moved quickly to emphasise the success of the Entertainment Centre, in which the Auckland site is based, with a media release proclaiming that 1.1 million people had bought tickets to the movies during the 10 months it has been open for business. This includes admissions to the 12 traditional Village Force screens.
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