CINEMA operator Palace Amusement has been quietly undertaking several major projects, but the big-ticket item will be the upgrading of one of its theatre rooms to give its audience an immersive multi-sensory cinematic experience come February.

Think on-screen visuals with synchronised motion seats and environmental effects such as water, wind, fog, scent and snow while watching a movie, Palace Amusement wants to use the new technology to enhance the theatre experience for regular moviegoers, but it also wants to attract those who prefers to watch a movie from their couch.

It’s an upgrade on the 3D films currently offered by the movie theatre operator on specific pictures, giving viewers an illusion of three-dimensional solidity, usually with the help of special glasses worn.

“4DX is much more than that. The chairs come in banks of four, and each chair has 13 motors on it,” Concessions and Screen Advertising Manager Steven Cooke told the
Jamaica Observer during the company’s annual general meeting on Tuesday.

“In addition to the effects such as snow and rain, the chairs also have little ticklers at the back for your legs. So imagine watching a horror movie and going through the forest and something grabs you…that’s the experience we are going for,” he explained.

A bigger audience means more earnings for the company which, for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, produced an annual profit of $228 million on revenues which doubled to $1.5 billion.

Still, the pandemic has not been the only giant the 102-year-old movie theatre operator has had to tackle over the years. The Internet, television and on-demand video streaming continue to threaten the business of movie theatre operators not just in Jamaica, but globally.

To keep earnings intact, Palace is currently updating one of its theatre rooms at the flagship Carib 5 movie house in Cross Roads, Kingston, to test the market’s reception to new technology. It will start with 100 seats and then gradually expand the offering to its other three locations based on market demand for the product.

The price customers will pay for the premium experience will be announced next month in line with the launch of the new service. In addition to the 4DX service, moviegoers will also have the option to see the select films in their original format or 3D.

“We had plans to launch the product sooner, but because of shipping delays in the Panama Canal, the product arrived late. But we are on track for launching in February,” Marketing Manager Melanie Graham said.

The roll-out of 4DX technology comes on the back of several capex projects Palace Amusement executed last year, including the development of its website and the launch of a mobile app. Graham said the company is still tallying the costs for the projects, describing it only as “very expensive”.

“Because we are still servicing our loans, it would be difficult for us to finance this project externally, and so the projects are being internally funded,” she said.

Palace’s strategy to survive the fallout from the pandemic depended on injections of debt capital. As at June 2023, the company had debt totalling $710 million, but it has shored up cash reserves of $168.4 million compared to $98.1 million in the prior year.

Palace’s investments in tech-enhancing products are happening at a time when the business is not only recovering from the pandemic fallout but also from disturbances within the industry. After months-long strike actions, Hollywood writers and actors are back on the job, and with that comes an increase in the release of movies.

Big hits released earlier this year, which included
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour and
Renaissance: a film by Beyonce, did not bring the level of patrons as anticipated Graham said, but she hopes for a better turnout for
Bob Marley: One Love film in February.

Other movies now showing include:
Beekeeper,
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,
Due Justice,
Migration, and
The Colour Purple.