CJ CGV Co., South Korea’s largest cinema chain operator, has shut its last US theater in Los Angeles, ending a 15-year run in North America as mounting losses and the intensifying streaming competition have forced it to retreat from the world’s most competitive movie market.
The multiplex in Koreatown screened its final films on Sept. 21, according to the company’s notice board.
It follows earlier shutdowns of CGV sites in Buena Park, CA, and San Francisco, which struggled to recover from the pandemic as moviegoers migrated to Netflix and other streaming platforms.
At its peak, the company operated three US locations after entering the market in 2010.
But pandemic lockdowns crushed attendance, while higher rents and pricier tickets left its American operations, already crippled by streaming rivals, deep in the red.
The exit comes as CJ CGV faces similar pressures at home, where moviegoers have been slow to return to theaters.
It has also relinquished control of CGI Holdings Co., a subsidiary overseeing multiplexes in China, Indonesia and Vietnam, after shelving a planned listing amid the global cinema slump, drawing pushback from financial investors.
PIVOT TO HIGH-TECH CINEMA FORMAT LICENSING
Rather than expanding its own theaters abroad, CJ CGV is pivoting toward premium formats such as ScreenX, a 270-degree panoramic system, and 4DX, which adds motion and environmental effects.
Those technologies are developed and licensed by CJ 4DPLEX Co., a CGV subsidiary that partners with global exhibitors, including 65 AMC theaters and 50 operated by Cinepolis.
In the first half this year, CJ 4DPLEX notched a record $55 million in North American box-office sales, up 47% from a year earlier.
At home, CJ CGV has been converting underused theaters into so-called lifestyle venues that mix cinemas with bowling alleys, golf simulators and live-event spaces as it seeks to offset dwindling movie audiences.
It has also closed eight theaters in Korea this year as audiences shrink.
Total cinema attendance in Korea reached 123.1 million last year, just 55.7% of the pre-pandemic annual average of 220.9 million between 2017 and 2019, according to the Korean Film Council.
In the first five months of this year, it was less than a quarter of pre-pandemic levels.
The financial strain has been clear.
CJ CGV reported a consolidated operating profit of 1.7 billion won ($1.2 million) for the second quarter ended June 2025, down 92.3% from a year earlier, on revenue of 491.6 billion won, up 14.3%.
Its domestic cinema business swung to an operating loss of 17.3 billion won as box-office receipts slumped 26.8% to 141.8 billion won amid a lack of major releases.
By Sookyung Seo
skseo@hankyung.com
Jennifer Nicholson-Breen edited this article.
