By Adriano Marchese
Cineplex capped off the year with a strong December box office driven by new releases, but fourth-quarter revenue still fell short of the same period a year earlier.
The Canadian movie theater chain on Tuesday reported December box office revenue of 67 million Canadian dollars ($48.3 million), up from C$64.8 million in the prior December.
October and November box‑office revenue came in below the prior‑year months, reaching 88% and 90% of those totals, respectively.
Together, the quarter's revenue came to C$140.7 million, below the C$147.7 million reported in the fourth quarter of 2024 and below Wall Street forecasts. According to FactSet, analysts were expecting a rise to C$167.5 million.
December's results were driven by major franchise releases, led by Avatar: Fire and Ash, which saw roughly 90% of its box office come from premium-experience screenings. Five Nights at Freddy's 2 opened early in the month with a record December debut for a horror film.
Family titles also performed strongly, Cineplex said, with Zootopia 2 surpassing the box office performance of the original film.
Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 13, 2026 07:57 ET (12:57 GMT)
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