TORONTO – A court will hear Cineplex Inc.‘s appeal of a record $38.9-million fine it is facing for deceptive marketing practices this fall.
The theatre operator revealed Tuesday that the matter is scheduled to go before the Federal Court of Appeal on Oct. 8.
CEO Ellis Jacob was pleased to have the date scheduled.
“I think it’s good because basically now it’s getting to a point where we can move it forward and we feel about comfortable about our position,” he told The Canadian Press.
The Competition Tribunal slapped Cineplex with the fine last September, after the country’s competition watchdog alleged the business misled cinemagoers by not immediately presenting them with the full price of a movie ticket when they purchased seats online.
The online booking fee at the heart of the Competition Bureau’s case was a $1.50 charge Cineplex began applying in June 2022 for many customers not enrolled in its CineClub subscription and Scene Plus loyalty programs, which saw the fee waived and dropped to $1, respectively.
The Competition Bureau alleged the fee constituted “price dripping” — a practice when customers are drawn into a purchase without full disclosure of the final cost.
Cineplex disagreed. It appealed the fine because it felt it promptly told customers about fees which can be avoided all together by purchasing seats in-person at a theatre.
However, it decided to address the bureau’s concerns in November 2024 by adjusting how its online booking fee is communicated to moviegoers.
News of a court date being set for the matter came as Cineplex reported a loss of $2.2 million in its latest quarter as its revenue rose 30.5 per cent compared with a year ago.
The loss amounted to three cents per diluted share for the quarter ended June 30 and compared with a loss of $21.4 million or 33 cents per diluted in the same quarter last year.
Revenue for the quarter totalled $361.8 million, up from $277.3 million a year earlier, while theatre attendance amounted to 11.6 million, up from 8.7 million.
“I thought the quarter was really good and we had some great records,” Jacob said.
Cineplex set all-time quarterly records for box office per patron at $13.68 and concession per patron at $10.04.
Customers were drawn in by “A Minecraft Movie,” which delivered the biggest opening of the year and the largest ever for a video game adaptation, and “Mission Impossible, The Final Reckoning,” which saw the franchise’s best opening domestically.
Meanwhile, “‘F1: The Movie,’ marked the biggest global opening for an Apple original with nearly 77 per cent of its opening weekend box office coming from premium formats, Jacob said.
The hit films marked a rebound for the theatre exhibition industry, which suffered in recent years from two Hollywood strikes.
“It’s getting better. We’re not at 100 per cent of where we were (before the strikes)… but I am quite excited,” Jacob said.
“I think we’ll get close to the 130 wide releases in pre-pandemic. I think we’ll be at 120 and that’s something very positive.”
The rebound he predicted will come in his final year as CEO. Jacob will retire at the end of 2026.
He said he was waiting for the business to recover before he departed to spend more time with family and possibly, get a law degree.
“The industry has really come back and I wanted it to be back and feel that the business is settled,” he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 12, 2025.
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