CJ CGV, Korea‘s largest cinema chain, is targeting 10,000 screens and 700 million moviegoers worldwide by the year 2020, its chief executive said Wednesday.  

Speaking to press at the chain’s Cheongdam branch in southern Seoul on Wednesday, CEO Seo Jung said that his company will be focusing on overseas expansion through active mergers and acquisitions, rather than the saturated domestic market. In Korea, the cinema unit of local conglomerate CJ has 128 theaters and 971 screens, controlling nearly 50 percent of the market. 

Since the opening of its first overseas theater in 2006, CGV has grown to 105 theaters overseas (set to grow to 118 by the end of 2015) with 764 screens in five countries -- China, the U.S., Myanmar, Vietnam and Indonesia. In China, CGV holds about 2.5 percent of the market share, while in Vietnam it has become the largest chain with over half the country‘s market share in theaters.

“This may seem like explosive growth to us, but on a global scale the difference we make is hardly visible,” Seo said, underlining the importance of growing its presence in large countries like China.

“CGV’s weapons will be its special technology-based theaters like 4DX and Screen X,” Seo said. These special technologies have brought CGV opportunities to partner with existing chains like the top Chinese exhibitor Wanda, opening up avenues for growth without having to engage in direct competition.

4DX screens feature moving chairs as well as wind, smell and water effects to maximize the movie experience, while Screen X theaters project images onto side walls to visually surround the audience. In addition to 4DX and Screen X, CGV is working on Sphere X, with a vertically curving screen that cocoons the audience with both image and sound.

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)