CJ CGV (d/b/a CGV Cinemas) is the largest multiplex cinema chain in South Korea and also has branches in China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Turkey, Vietnam, and the United States. The fifth largest multiplex theater company in the world, CJ CGV currently operates 3,412 screens at 455 locations in seven countries, including 1,111 screens at 149 locations in South Korea. CGV takes its name from the first letters of the joint venture partners at the time of launching; CJ, Golden Harvest (Orange Sky Golden Harvest), and Village Roadshow.

History

CGV started as Theater Business Team inside CJ CheilJedang in 1995. CJ Golden Village was jointly established in 1996 by CJ Cheil Jedang of South Korea, Orange Sky Golden Harvest of Hong Kong and Village Roadshow of Australia. However, now it is operated by CJ only as Golden Harvest and Village Roadshow have pulled out of the group. CGV opened the first multiplex in Gangbyeon in 1998. It merged CJ Golden Village and renamed the company to CJ CGV. In December 2004, it became the first theater chain listed on the Korea Stock Exchange. CGV exceeded an aggregated total of 100 million viewers in 2004. It opened its first digital movies in 2006, SMART PLEX in 2008, 4D PLEX in 2009 and Cine City in 2011. In 2006, it opened eight sites in China and one in Los Angeles, and took over major cinema chain in Vietnam. 2013, CGV had 101 million visitors within one year. It is the fifth cinema company achieving this mark, joining Regal, AMC, Cinemark and Cinepolis. 2017 saw the second U.S. location open, in Buena Park, in Orange County. As of 2019, CGV held a market share of 49.5%, significantly surpassing Lotte Cinema's 29.1% and Megabox's 18.6%.

Service

Culture Day 2D regular movie screenings between 17:00 and 21:00 available for 7,000 won reservation. 4DX DAY: All-day 4DX movie viewing available for 11,000 won (excluding ULTRA 4DX format). SCREENX DAY: All-day SCREENX movie viewing available for 10,000 won. Discounts

Timeline

Facilities

CGV opened South Korea's first luxury theater, Gold Class, with sofa and service; along with Cine de Chef, the premium theater with fine dining in Apgujeong-dong, Seoul. This was followed by CGV Art Hall, a concert hall with 500 seats, in Yeongdeungpo-gu for concert, musical and broadcasting program in addition to movies. Since 2009, with the construction of digital cinema, it started showing a variety contents such as baseball game, Japanese K-1, concert and opera shows. In 2010 FIFA World Cup, it was marketed as a location for cheering games with the most number of 2D/3D screens. In 2011, CGV Chungdam Cine City, with luxury life culture concept, was opened. It markets CJ's own brands such as The First Look Market operated by Oshopping and Vips, Bibigo, Twosome operated by Foodville. CGV Arthouse (formerly Movie Collage) is the first indie theater in South Korea operated by CGV for independent films (which later on became the name for a separate distribution company focused on these kinds of films). From 2011, CGV extended their chain to Vietnam by taking over the multiplex cinema Megastar and opening more theaters like CGV Liberty Citypoint and CGV Crescent Mall. CGV opened their first luxury theater in Vietnam with sofas and went on to offer the Sweetbox (a red sofa that seats two) in multiple theaters. In 2015, CGV opened its 10th cinema complex (CGV Vivocity) and introduced the first IMAX theater in Vietnam with 311 seats, one premium studio with wide spaces and armchairs, and one studio for showing 4DX movies (augmented with environmental effects such as seat motion, wind, rain, fog, lighting, and aroma along with the standard video and audio thanks to a motion picture technology owned and developed CJ 4DPLEX). The remaining studios have Sweetbox seats as private spaces for couples. CJ CGV is the second-largest operator of joint venture IMAX screens in China, behind Wanda Cinemas, China's largest theater chain.

Special theaters

Events

Recognition