As it continues European expansion, Korea-headquartered CJ 4DPLEX has partnered with Switzerland’s Kitag Cinemas for a 4DX auditorium in Zurich. Kitag is the largest exhibitor in the country’s German-speaking region with 85 screens and 17,000 seats in such cities as Basel, Bern, Biel, Lucerne and Zurich. Its new 4DX auditorium is scheduled to open before the end of the year at the Abaton multiplex. The new partnership comes as CJ’s 4DX immersive format has grown in Europe, enhancing onscreen visuals of action-packed films through motion-activated seats and special effects including wind, fog, rain, lighting, vibrations and scents. In 2017 so far, new theaters have opened in Hungary, Norway, France, Turkey, the UK, Austria, Romania, the Czech Republic and Poland. As of November, more than 8,000 4DX seats have been installed at 62 screens in 17 European countries. In Europe, the Top 5 movies released in 4DX this year generated an occupancy rate of 4% higher than the global average during opening week. Two sites opened in 2017, one with Les Cinémas Gaumont Pathé in Paris, and the other with Nordisk Film Cinemas in Oslo, have hit an average occupancy rate of over 60% since March. In all as of this month, there are more than 52K 4DX seats in 426 auditoriums across 50 countries. This past weekend, Justice League’s occupancy rates included 94% in Norway, 80% in the Philippines, 56% in Kuwait and 45% in Mexico.
