 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Film exhibition, film distribution, cinema advertising |
| Founded | 1909 |
| Headquarters | Sydney, Australia |
Area served | Australia, New Zealand |
Key people | Damian Keogh (CEO) |
| Products | Hoyts Cinemas |
Number of employees | 4,000 |
| Parent | Wanda Group |
| Website | www |
TheHoyts Group of companies in Australia and New Zealand includesHoyts Cinemas, acinema chain, andVal Morgan, which sells advertising on cinema screens anddigital billboards.
The company was established by dentist Arthur Russell inMelbourne,Victoria in 1908, showing films in a hired hall. After expansion into other states and several changes of ownership, the majority of Hoyts was acquired by a Chinese conglomerate, theWanda Group, in 2015. As of 2022[update], Hoyts owned 46 multiplexes housing 412 screens, making it Australia's second largest movie exhibitor afterEvent Cinemas.
At the start of the 20th century,Melbourne dentist andcornet player Arthur Russell[1] bought a share in a small touring American circus that visited Melbourne, called Hoyts Circus. Russell toured with the circus as amagician, but it did not prove to be a financial success. In 1908, he started presentingmoving pictures at St George's Hall inBourke Street,[2] accompanying thesilent films with his small family band: his wife on piano, son on drums, and Russell on cornet. On 18 September 1909 he opened Hoyts Picture Palace,[1] and formed a company called Hoyts Pictures Pty Ltd. The old hall was rebuilt and renamed "Hoyts De Luxe". By the end ofWorld War I, Hoyts had expanded into the suburbs of Melbourne and intoSydney.[2] The shows includedvaudeville acts, as was common practice in those days.[1]
In 1926, Hoyts and two other companies, Electric Theatres Pty Ltd and Associated Theatres Pty Ltd., merged to become Hoyts Theatres Limited. In 1930, the 20th Century Fox Film Corporation (now20th Century Studios) acquired a majority of shares in Hoyts Theaters.[3][4]
In 1982, 20th Century Fox sold Hoyts to Stardawn Investments, a group of four Melbourne businessmen. In 1985, the Fink family subsequently bought out the other partners to become the sole owner. In 1987, the corporation was restructured and two of the companies in the corporation were listed on theAustralian Securities Exchange: Hoyts Media and Hoyts Entertainment. However, the company that owned the cinemas, Hoyts Cinemas, was not floated until 1996. The years between 1987 and 1996 saw Hoyts expand in Australia, New Zealand and the United States. In 1988, Hoyts bought out Interstate Theaters, which made its expansion into the United States market.[5] In the 1980s, Hoys diversified into radio with the purchase ofTriple M Sydney andEon FM.[6] Further acquisitions included4BK inBrisbane,5AD inAdelaide and96FM inPerth.[7]
Following Leon Fink's death in 1993, Hoyts was sold toHellman & Friedman andLendlease. The company eventually went public in 1995. In 1997, Hoyts expanded toChile with the opening ofits first movie theatre there. In 1999, Hoyts celebrated its 90th anniversary and was ranked the seventh largest cinema exhibitor in the world. In the same year,Kerry Packer's private family company,Consolidated Press Holdings, bought the chain for $620 million. After that, Hoyts began to sell off international cinemas except for some New Zealand cinemas.[citation needed] In 1995 the radio assets were sold toAustereo.[8]
In 2003, Hoyts sold all of its US chains toRegal Entertainment Group.[9][10] In 2004, Hoyts collaborated withVillage Roadshow andAmalgamated Holdings Limited to bail out Val Morgan Cinema Advertising, eventually taking its stake to 100% in 2005. In December that year,Publishing & Broadcasting Limited andWest Australian Newspapers purchased the company from Consolidated Press. In 2007, Hoyts was sold to Sydney-based private equity firmPacific Equity Partners. The sale valued the company at A$440 million.[citation needed]
In 2010, Hoyts sold off its Chilean operations to Chilefilms. In the same year, Hoyts acquiredAustralian Multiplex Cinemas inQueensland and theBerkeley Cinema Group in New Zealand. HOYTS Stream, a video streaming service, was set to launch during 2013, but after being delayed, it was cancelled in 2014.[11][12]Damian Keogh was appointed chief executive officer, and Hoyts was bought by Chinese billionaire Sun Xishuang through his investment company ID Leisure Ventures in December 2014.[13]
In June 2015, Wanda Cinema Line, a subsidiary of Dalian Wanda Group, purchased Hoyts from ID Leisure Ventures.[13]
In 2018, Hoyts Kiosk DVD vending machines were rebranded asVideo Ezy after the group sold its subsidiary.[14]
InArgentina Hoyts was acquired byCinemark, in Chile byCinépolis, and in Uruguay by Life Cinemas.[citation needed][when?]
On 7 September 2022, Cineworld, the current parent company of Hoyts USA, filed forChapter 11 bankruptcy.[15]
In December 2022, Hoyts acquired three cinemas in WA fromGrand Cinemas after the company went into administration.[16] In April 2023, they acquired an additional cinema from Grand.[17] That month, Wanda Film also began seeking buyers for Hoyts.[18][19] The sale of Beijing Wanda Investment, which had a controlling stake in Wanda Film, to China Ruyi in December 2023 put any potential sale of Hoyts up in the air.[20]
On Saturday the 7th of February 2026, During the Stray Kids dominATE experience at the Melbourne Central HOYTS, People were running down to the bottom and dancing to the songs, out of their seats, showing their energy as of being unmatched. When Jonathan and Dean Pilinis went down, the party started. During Bangchan’s speech, Dean started praising him and more people joined. During the song “MEGAVERSE”, Jonathan planned a mosh pit during MIROH and Chk Chk Boom (Festival Ver.) And when he said that to people, it was spread around everyone at the bottom. When the time had come, everyone went wild. Jonathan and Dean Pilinis started mosh pits when MIROH and Chk Chk Boom (Festival Ver.) was playing, leading to 4 mosh pits during the concert, which had the entire audience joining the mosh pit, and was uploaded to YouTube. As stated by Dean, “This is beautiful chaos. Very gnarly.”
As of 2024[update], Hoyts owns and operates 60 cinemas across Australia and New Zealand, with 500 screens and more than 560000 seats, making it one of Australia's largest movie exhibitors.[19]
Features available at many Hoyts Cinemas include reclining chairs, large high-resolution screens and immersive surround sound under theXtremescreen brand, and dine-in menus under the HoytsLux brand.[21][22][23]Seats that move and vibrate in synchronization with on-screen action have been introduced at some cinemas usingD-Box Technologies.[24]
Hoyts Cinema Technology Group (CTG) was established in 2008 and helps other exhibitors such asPalace Cinemas install and operate digital cinema. HOYTS CTG also supports one-off screenings such as festivals or corporate events.[25]
Val Morgan was created by Valentine (Val) Morgan and specializes in advertising on cinema screens. Val Morgan's sister company, Val Morgan Outdoor (VMO), operates advertising screens in shopping centres, gyms, service stations and office towers, as well as outdoor digital billboards.[citation needed]
Hoyts Distribution was the film distribution arm of the group which existed in its own right from 1979[26][27] to 1994; it possessed the distribution rights toCannon Films,Carolco andNelson Entertainment films in Australia and New Zealand. The distribution unit was originally founded by Jim Shakespeare, the national sales manager of the company and Bill Gavin, general manager of films and marketing of the company. The company's first films includeThe Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith,The Stud,The Boys from Brazil,Dawn! andLong Weekend.[26]
It was later merged with the distribution operations ofColumbia TriStar Film Distributors and20th Century Fox, forming Hoyts -Fox-Columbia TriStar Films (later Fox-Columbia TriStar Films after Hoyts dropped out of the venture). In 1993, the entertainment branch of Hoyts was spin-off to Television and Media Services, with the unit being renamed to TMS Distribution.[28] The company's original film library was sold off toBecker Entertainment in 1999.[29] In 2001, the company was revived under the leadership of Kerry Packer, distributing primarily films produced byNine Films and Television and major independent studios such asLions Gate Entertainment.[30]
Hoyts also operated a home video arm in concert with Sony, beginning in 1983 asRCA/Columbia/Hoyts Video In addition to Columbia Pictures and TriStar fare through the main label, the company also held rights to Cannon and other releases via Hoyts, and starting in 1990,Orion Pictures releases via that company's worldwide distribution deal with Columbia. RCA/Columbia/Hoyts (later renamed to Columbia TriStar/Hoyts Home Video) also released product through two alternative labels, First Release Home Entertainment and Video Box Office. HOYTS also had, beginning in 1988 a joint venture withPolyGram, Hoyts PolyGram Video; this label concentrated primarily on sell-through material, including PolyGram's music video library.[31] In 2004, the revived Hoyts Distribution partnered withMGM Home Entertainment andUniversal Studios Home Entertainment to launch its own home video arm.[32]
In 2012, Hoyts Distribution was sold to French production and distribution companyStudioCanal and was rebranded under that banner the following year.[33]
Source: "The Story of HOYTS ", News Release, HOYTS Theatres Limited.HTML version
Sources: Moran, A & Veith, E 2005,Historical Dictionary of Australian and New Zealand Cinema, The Scarecrow Press, Maryland, USA.AllExperts Encyclopedia, Hoyts
