Canada’s Cineplex theatres are embracing foreign-language films as they come close to recapturing pre-pandemic audience numbers.
Cineplex said last month that international movies had accounted for 11.5 per cent of its box-office revenue this year to date — up from 10 per cent last year — with the top three being Hindi-language action film Fighter and Punjabi-language comedies Jatt & Juliet 3 and Shinda Shinda No Papa.
Robert Cousins, senior vice-president of film for Cineplex, says the company is the largest chain in North America to play a wide range of international cinema, in at least seven different languages.
“We want our theatres to reflect the communities that they’re in,” he told CBC News.
“If you’re in Brampton, Ont., or you’re in Surrey, B.C., you want to see films on screen that speak to you. Whether that is a Punjabi film, a Hindi film, a Korean film, whatever it is — watching that film ties you to your community.”
Foreign-language films were already a growing market before the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, when Cineplex lost millions in revenue as theatres across the country shut down and reopened gradually to hesitant audiences.
Cousins says once they reopened, international films were the first to bounce back.
“That audience craved coming back to a communal experience and enjoying these films together,” he said, noting that audiences for international films were also the fastest to return to theatres.
Cousins says Cineplex’s summer numbers have been buoyed by international content, particularly at times when Hollywood’s offerings have been lacking, like during the Hollywood strikes that halted film production for months.
Cineplex screened 217 international films last year
Movie theatres have used various tactics to lure audiences in the last two years, including offering more IMAX screenings, live sporting events, bringing back old classics and rolling out exclusive movie-themed merchandise like the curious Dune popcorn buckets.
Cineplex says business is now close to normal, with its June and July box office reaching more than 90 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.
Cousins says the theatre chain screened 217 international titles last year — which he says equalled the number of domestic films on offer — and is on track to top that number in 2024, a trend likely to continue given its success.
Foreign-language films currently playing include Korean comedy Pilot and Filipino romance Un/Happy for You.
Tilak Verma, who went to see Hindi action thriller Vedaa at Toronto’s Scotiabank Theatre, says being able to watch Indian movies helps him feel connected to home when he’s missing family.
“These are the things that connect us back,” he said.
Streaming services are often thought of as a competitor for the movie theatre experience, but some in the industry see streaming as a benefit by keeping films in the conversation longer.
Pradipti Seth says she tries to see every Bollywood movie that comes to theatres, when she would otherwise wait for them to hit Netflix or Amazon Prime.
“All the Cineplex here have most Hindi movies,” she said.
International movies give ‘sense of connection’
Toronto-based arts and life reporter Apparata Bhandari says she used to only find Hindi films at smaller community theatres, but now regularly watches Indian cinema at Cineplex’s Yonge-Dundas location, and catches Korean movies at its Empress Walk location in North York.
“Being able to see a wide variety of audiences and being able to go and watch the cinema with them, it just makes you feel as if you’re part of something bigger,” she said.
While the convenience of streaming services may have pulled some viewers away from theatres since the pandemic, it has also introduced foreign-language international content to new audiences, which Bhandari says may also be driving traffic to these films when they hit theatres.
She encourages all moviegoers to take a chance on international cinema.
“It’s not going to be always the best film, but you’ll get something out of it,” she said. “You’ll get a sense of another place, another people, a sense of connection, a sense of going someplace that is not in your immediate surroundings. And cinema offers you so much.”