CinemaCity in Beirut Souks next week

$20 million invested in joint venture with Solidere

CinemaCity, one of the largest movie theater complexes, will be opening its second local outlet in the Beirut Souks, on December 18.

The $20 million project is owned by BCD Cinemas, a company made up of three shareholders: Solidere, Empire Theaters (Mario Haddad), and Prime World Media, a company owned by Hammad Atassi, a Lebanese-American businessman.

Atassi is the chair and general manager of BCD Cinemas.

Prime and Empire companies are the major shareholders.

The new venue has an area of over 12,000 square meters, spread across three floors. “It is the biggest cinema complex in the Middle East,” Atassi said. It includes 14 screens, including a luxury venues club and VIP theaters. The cinemas will occupy a space of 5,000 square meters, which is, according to Atassi, by far the largest cinema multiplex in Lebanon and is equipped with advanced sound and screen technologies.

Restaurants occupy 7,000 square meters of the project, which is seven times larger than the restaurant space in CinemaCity-City Mall.

The complex will include a coffee corner, a pizza by-the-slice restaurant, a health food corner, a fruit cup corner, a gelato cart, a crepe cart, and Italian and Sushi diners, along with the traditional movie theater fare of popcorn, hot dogs, and nachos.

CinemaCity in the Souks will have four floors of parking spaces, of which three will be underground. The contractor of the project is GENECO.

The opening date was delayed due to work complications, according to Atassi.

The first CinemaCity in Dora, owned by Hammad Atassi and Mario Haddad, launched its operations in 2006, and it is now the first local cinema destination, exceeding 800,000 entries per year.