Medellin will construct three new movie theaters in the next two years, adding 23 new screens to the city.
The Mexican company Cinepolis, the largest cinema company in Latin America, is building two new theatres in Medellin. One will be built in Poblado in Soler Gardens Mall and will have 11 screens. The other will be built in Envigado in City Plaza, and will have six screens.
The third new theatre will be built in the El Caribe neighborhood by Medellin’s own Procinal company and will also have six new movie screens. The construction of the cinema will be the first in that area of the city.
Medellin currently has one movie screen for every 40,000 citizens, while the rest of Colombia has an average rate of 80,000 people per screen. Last year, 3,375 million movie tickets were sold, equivalent to one ticket for each of the city’s inhabitants. The year of 2010 is expected to see a new high in movie attendees.
“This year is going to be a record in Medellin,” said Cine Colombia’s Regional Manager Jorge Rodriguez. “We’re going to reach 3.9 million spectators and in Colombia we hope more than 30 million.”