By Nicholas Sokic and Andrea Hernandez
Cineplex has sold its online namesake store to CosmoBlue Canada, a subsidiary of Geneva-based CosmoBlue Media.
The sale of the Cineplex Store closed for “nominal proceeds” on Jan. 1, the company disclosed in its Q4 and full-year earnings report on Tuesday. The store is an e-commerce platform where customers can buy or rent films and series. It is also available on smartphones via the App Store and Google Play.
Cineplex COO Dan McGrath told Playback Daily the decision to sell was made when “strategic buyer” CosmoBlue expressed interest.
“The store has been a great offering for many years to allow our guests to enjoy movies at home, but as streaming offerings have grown, it was now a good time for us to sell this business,” said McGrath. “Store customers will continue to be able to access their libraries and transact on the store as they have in the past.”
The store will keep its name for an interim period up to one year before it fully transitions to CosmoBlue later in 2025. CosmoBlue launched its Canadian theatrical distribution operations in September 2024.
CBC unveils new podcast lineup for 2025 winter and spring seasons
The national broadcaster has announced a new slate of original podcasts for the winter and spring, featuring in-depth investigations into true crimes and history. The new lineup can be found on CBC Listen and audio platforms, with some titles also available on YouTube.
The new programming includes Uncover: Sea of Lies (7 episodes), a podcast that follows the race against time to catch one of the world’s most wanted criminals; Personally: Toy Soldier (5 episodes), the story of a boy who escapes the Nazi Holocaust and becomes Hitler’s “Jewish soldier”; White Hot Hate: Agent Pale Horse (6 episodes), which follows the life of an undercover FBI agent who infiltrates drug cartels and worldwide neo-Nazi networks; Understood: Who Broke the Internet (4 episodes), which traces the downward spiral from the heady days of 1990s technological utopianism to today’s dismal Internet experience; and Uncover: Calls from a Killer (7 episodes) about the taped conversations between a journalist and a serial killer, as well as the failed investigation of the murders.
These join ongoing podcasts such as Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud; The Dose; Front Burner; and Q with Tom Power. CBC has more than 45 audio series in genres such as true crime, comedy and fiction.
A version of this story originally appeared on PlaybackOnline.
