4 Philippine Showbiz Today
December 22, 2017 - January 7, 2018
screen Metro Manila Film Festi-
val entries “The Revenger Squad”
starring Vice Ganda and Coco
Martin’s “Ang Panday.”
It was built deliberately far
from Boracay’s White Beach be-
cause of City Mall’s target market,
according to Sia, noting that City
Mall branches are found where
the communities are, far from
tourist areas.
The Boracay community
mall is the island’s top commer-
cial destination, as it offers conve-
nience and everything one needs
to residents and even tourists
alike.
The Boracay cinemas are
one of the many that CityMall is
rolling out nationwide. These in-
clude theaters in CityMall-Anabu
in Imus, Cavite; CityMall-Conso-
lacion in Cebu; CityMall-Duma-
guete; and CityMall-Mandalagan
in Bacolod, all of which are al-
ready in operation.
CMCCI is targeting a capacity
CityMall, ABS-CBN
partnership for cinemas
to Boracay
BORACAY -- Residents and
people working on the island
paradise of Boracay and Aklan
province in Panay used to travel
for several hours just to watch the
latest blockbuster hit on the big
screen.
Not anymore.
CityMall Commercial Centers
Inc. (CMCCI), the community mall
development arm of listed proper-
ty firm DoubleDragon Properties
Corp., and ABS-CBN Corp., the
country’s largest media and en-
tertainment company, on Friday
launched the first-ever cinemas
on the world-famous island.
And what better way to inau-
gurate the new movie houses than
by screening “Star Wars: The Last
Jedi”?
The second film in the epic
Star Wars sequel trilogy opened
on a blustery weekend in City-
Mall-Boracay, defying a tropical
cyclone brewing the region.
“The addition of cinemas in
Boracay is part of our thrust of
bringing modern conveniences
to the island,” said Ferdinand Sia,
president of DoubleDragon Prop-
erties. ”Residents can now enjoy
the latest box-office releases with-
out having to travel out, adding
more leisure activities to be en-
joyed.”
CityMall-Boracay cinemas,
which boast of a state-of-the-art
projection and sound system,
feature two theaters with a total
seating capacity of 220. They are
also screening movies on their re-
lease date, according to Double-
Dragon.
After “Star Wars: The Last
Jedi,” CityMall-Boracay will next
of up to 12,000 cinema seats by
2020, with around 100 CityMalls
expected to be operational by that
time.
Partnership with ABS-CBN
ABS-CBN Corp. signed an
agreement with CMCCI in De-
cember 2016 to roll out cinemas
in the provinces.
Under the partnership, ABS-
CBN will manage the booking and
the food and beverage operations
of the mini theaters while CityMall
will handle handle the cinema in-
frastructure.
ABS-CBN president Carlo L.
Katigbak earlier said the venture
would expand the reach of Star
Cinema, ABS-CBN’s movie pro-
duction arm.
“In our partnership with City-
Mall, I’m happy to say that our
movies will now be made avail-
able in areas where they weren’t
available before,” Katigbak said.●
- J. Malig, ABS-CBN