logo
Cineplex reports $55.3M May box office revenue up from $33.9M a year ago

Cineplex reports $55.3M May box office revenue up from $33.9M a year ago

TORONTO – Movie theatre company Cineplex Inc. reported its May box office report rose compared with a year ago helped by Final Destination: Bloodlines, Lilo & Stitch, and Mission: Impossible – the Final Reckoning.
Cineplex chief executive Ellis Jacob says the breadth of titles in May showcased the benefit that a steady supply of diverse films can have on the box office.
The company says its box office take for May totalled $55.3 million.
The result was up from $33.9 million in the same month last year.
Jacob says the strength is expected to continue in June with the coming release of the live action adaptation of How to Train Your Dragon, Elio, 28 Years Later, and F1: The Movie.
Cineplex has 172 movie theatres and location-based entertainment venues.
Weekly
A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2025.
Companies in this story: (TSX:CGX)

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Natalie Sue wins Leacock Medal for Humour for novel ‘I Hope This Finds You Well'
Natalie Sue wins Leacock Medal for Humour for novel ‘I Hope This Finds You Well'

Winnipeg Free Press

time12 hours ago

  • Winnipeg Free Press

Natalie Sue wins Leacock Medal for Humour for novel ‘I Hope This Finds You Well'

Natalie Sue's debut novel 'I Hope This Finds You Well' has won this year's Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour. The $25,000 award is given to the best Canadian book of literary humour published in the previous year. The novel follows the story of an office worker in her early thirties who one day stumbles upon all of her colleagues' private emails and decides to use their gossip to help save her job. 'I Hope This Finds You Well' was published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. Sue is a Calgary-based author of Iranian and British descent who spent her early years living in western Canada. Runners-up, who received $5,000 each, were Greg Kearney for 'An Evening With Birdy O'Day,' about an aging hairstylist who lost connection with his childhood best friend when he left to pursue a pop music career, and Patricia J. Parsons for 'We Came From Away: That Summer on the Rock,' which follows one woman's attempt to reconnect her family with Newfoundland. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 21, 2025.

First Nations celebrate culture, resiliency
First Nations celebrate culture, resiliency

Winnipeg Free Press

time14 hours ago

  • Winnipeg Free Press

First Nations celebrate culture, resiliency

The scent of tobacco swept through The Forks Saturday morning as elders kicked off National Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations with traditional water and pipe ceremonies. Performers from First Nations, Métis, and Inuit backgrounds entertained hundreds of community members who gathered at the historic site with music and dance, while elders shared teachings of their culture's history and traditions. Among the artists shedding light on Indigenous music was Kieran Maytwayashing, a fiddler (violin) player from the Lake Manitoba First Nation and the Long Plain First Nation. SPENCER COLBY / THE CANADIAN PRESS A heart shape cutout with the words 'Every Child Matters' is seen in a flower bed following a National Indigenous People's Day with youth from Future Paths Network, a grassroot organization dedicated to supporting youth who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) in their transition out of the foster care system at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, on Saturday, June 21, 2025. Maytwayashing, who's played the fiddle for more than three years now, said he does it to honour the late Clifford Maytwayashing, another violin player from his community. 'I've always heard it. It's what I listened to all the time growing up, and he was the one who inspired me,' he said. 'I try to keep on his legacy by playing those tunes he played, and it's just been going ever since.' Maytwayashing received a phone call a few weeks ago from the organizer of The Forks event, Kíwétinohk Consulting — an organization serving individuals, organizations, and communities across northern Manitoba — asking if he wanted to perform on Indigenous Peoples Day because they had liked his music on social media. He said he was thrilled by the invitation. 'It's important that more people come to know more about us and what we do. It's normal in our communities, but I'm glad to see this stuff happening here in Winnipeg as well to show other people what the culture is like and experience it for themselves,' said Maytwayashing. He also uses music as a tool to comfort others, such as those currently being displaced from their homes due to the wildfires north of Manitoba. He plans to visit the soccer complex evacuation centre on Leila Avenue and perform for the evacuees staying there. Joanne Nimik, 53, from Swan Lake, came to The Forks to enjoy the live music as well as to witness Indigenous Peoples' resiliency. 'It's beautiful that in spite of things that Indigenous people have been through, time and time again, we rise up,' Nimik said. 'We get up, dust ourselves off, and we keep going. That speaks to the spirit inside all of us.' Weekday Mornings A quick glance at the news for the upcoming day. Nimik is Ojibwe and an intergenerational residential school survivor. She said it's refreshing to see society coming together and bringing some cohesiveness, as opposed to the division her mother had experienced in the past. 'It's been a hard road for a lot of folks to even come to attend events like this. To go learn about their history and their culture and their traditions and their language and what they want to learn, what they need to learn,' she said. 'We're starting to make a change, and we have to, but we have to rely on each and every one of us to make that change.' Nimik works closely with Indigenous communities through her service with Bear Clan Patrol. She said despite trying times with the wildfires, it's important to remember there is always a community to help each other out. 'I really hope and pray that a lot of people are coming together and supporting each other and rebuilding on hope, trust, love, courage, and faith. Rise from the ashes, so to speak,' she said.

Canadian Oscar-winning filmmaker draws from childhood for Elio, a tale about lonely boy's search for life in the universe
Canadian Oscar-winning filmmaker draws from childhood for Elio, a tale about lonely boy's search for life in the universe

Toronto Sun

time18 hours ago

  • Toronto Sun

Canadian Oscar-winning filmmaker draws from childhood for Elio, a tale about lonely boy's search for life in the universe

A scene from the film Elio. Courtesy, Pixar. Photo by Pixar / PIXAR Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. Domee Shi may have signed on to co-direct the new Pixar Animation Studios movie, Elio, about halfway through its lengthy production schedule, but it didn't take her long to identify with the film's protagonist. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Shi, who currently lives in California but spent most of her life in Toronto, co-directed the animated film with Madeline Sharafian after original director Adrian Molina amicably left the production to work on Pixar's Coco 2. (Shi, Sharafian and Molina are all credited as co-directors.) As both a creative vice-president for Pixar and a fan of Molina's work, Shi had been following the production ever since it was first pitched in 2020. But it was well underway and the concept well-established by the time Shi officially signed on. Still, she felt a real kinship with the film's titular character, a young boy whose dream of being whisked away to another planet comes true, and he is introduced to the Communiverse, a benevolent interplanetary organization with representatives from galaxies far and wide. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'With every project I'm on, I try to connect with and identify with the main character in some way,' says Shi in a Zoom interview with Postmedia. 'I have to find my way into the main character. For Elio, it definitely was that loneliness and desperation to belong that I drew from my own childhood and teenhood, just feeling like the only kid in school who liked anime and people not understanding why I liked these Japanese cartoons with big eyes and wacky expressions. I was like, 'No, it's not just that! It's because they are very deep characters with rich stories and arcs.' 'Being obsessed with going to animation school, being obsessed with being accepted there, I think that obsession and need to find my people is what I infused into the character of Elio. When he gets abducted and witnesses the Communiverse for the first time, that was definitely my feeling when I first stepped foot into Sheridan College. I finally got into the animation program there and got to meet fellow nerds like myself. That was such an amazing feeling.' Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Filmmaker Domee Shi, co-director of Pixar's Elio. Courtesy, Pixar. Like all of Pixar's creations, Elio presents a wondrous, imaginative world full of offbeat characters and warm humour. But there is also a sadness underlying the film and its main character. Elio, voiced by 14-year-old actor Yonas Kibrea, is a lonely 11-year-old whose desperation to be abducted by aliens seems to be driven by a need to know he isn't alone in the universe. After his parents die, he is taken in by his Aunt Olga (voiced by Zoe Saldana), who becomes his loving but occasionally overwhelmed caregiver. A respected Air Force officer, Olga has to deal with her troubled nephew and his single-minded obsession with contacting aliens while reining in her career ambitions. Elio doesn't feel like he belongs in her world, and also has nagging guilt over the possibility that his unexpected arrival in her life has disrupted Olga's life plans. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Elio's interest in contacting life in outer space begins after he learns about the real-life Voyager satellite, which was launched in 1977, containing a 'Golden Record' from the children of Earth inviting aliens to come visit. The invitation works, and aliens contact Earth, which is intercepted and answered by Elio at his aunt's Air Force base. He is taken to the Communiverse after its colourful ambassadors mistake him for Earth's ruler. Elio doesn't correct the mistake, which eventually leads to him taking on a dangerous mission to negotiate peace with the hostile Lord Grigon (voiced by Everybody Loves Raymond star Brad Garrett), who wants to wage war on the Commuiverse after being rejected as a member. Along the way, Elio learns a lot of family-friendly lessons about friendship, belonging, the importance of family and home, and not to judge a book by its cover. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'It's not like we start our movies wanting to have a message,' Shi says. 'I think we start our movies with a really fun and unique what-if concept, and we start with the character. With the main character, how does he start in the movie, and how does he change? Where does he end up in the movie? What is driving him, and what is making the audience care about him and want to go on a journey with him? Then it's interesting, as you're working on a story or a movie, the theme starts to emerge slowly and naturally as you are working with the material. For us, yeah, the theme of loneliness and seeking connection just organically started to bubble up as we were talking in the room. We love this quirky kid who wants to be abducted by aliens, but we just kept asking ourselves, 'Why does he want to be abducted by aliens?' What is driving that need to go off the planet?' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. On top of that, Elio is essentially a sci-fi movie, a genre Shi has always wanted to explore. 'I was really excited to jump into this new sandbox that I've never been able to play in,' she says. 'I've never done sci-fi before, but I love sci-fi movies. I grew up watching E.T. I love Gravity. I love Alien. I love the use of space and aliens as metaphors and allegories of things the protagonist is going through internally.' A scene from the film Elio. Courtesy, Pixar. Photo by Pixar / PIXAR After graduating from Sheridan College, Shi was hired as a story intern at Pixar and quickly graduated to story artist, working on the Oscar-winning feature, 2015's Inside Out. She worked on The Good Dinosaur, Incredibles 2 and Toy Story 4. Initially, she was happy being a story artist and had no real ambitions to direct films for the company. But she did begin developing her own project, a short film called Bao. It told the story of a lonely Chinese-Canadian woman whose steamed bun comes to life. She initially intended to make it as a side project and had no intention of pitching it to Pixar. But she did show it to Pete Docter, a veteran director of the company's films and Pixar's current chief creative officer. He encouraged her to pitch it to Pixar. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'It was way more quote, unquote adult,' she says of the original concept. 'It wasn't G-rated. There is a PG-13 version of Bao somewhere on my computer that I probably won't ever show anybody.' It was the first Pixar film to be directed by a female and ended up winning her an Oscar in 2018 for best animated short. Since then, Shi made her feature directorial debut with 2022's Turning Red, which was also nominated for an Academy Award. For those who watch the end credits of Elio, or any Pixar film for that matter, it's clear that it takes a sprawling team of animators and other craftspeople to create a movie. 'It takes a village,' Shi says. 'It's incredibly inspiring and also daunting to lead these projects because there are so many people involved. They kind of come on at different parts of production, so it's not like everyone comes on all at once, and you are suddenly this captain of this 2,000-person army. Because our movies take four or five years to make, people come on steadily and then they wrap and different people come on and they wrap. So not too bad, but then if you zoom out and look at the credits, it's like, 'Oh my God, that's a lot of people.' But that's what it takes to make animation. People don't understand that animation is blood, sweat and tears. Everything you see on screen takes a person, an artisan, to bring to life.' Elio opens June 20. Columnists Columnists Toronto & GTA Toronto & GTA World

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store