Cinémas Guzzo is a regional chain of movie theaters located in the Canadian province of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. There are currently 10 Méga-Plex locations and 1 Cinema location, all within the greater

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

area.

History

Cinemas Guzzo was started by Angelo Guzzo shortly after immigrating to Canada. He was born in Italy in 1946. In 1969,

Vincenzo Guzzo Vincenzo "Vince" Guzzo (; born 11 June 1969) is a Canadian entrepreneur, philanthropist and television personality. He currently serves as CEO of Cinémas Guzzo, Groupe Guzzo Construction inc., Guzzo Medical and Guzzo Hospitality. He has also ...

was born and remains the Guzzo's only child. Vincenzo has had 5 children. After serving as the company's executive vice-president since 1990, as of 2018, Vincenzo took on the position of president. In 2000, Cinemas Guzzo was identified as one of the 50 best managed private companies in Canada. In 2001, revenues for the company were approximately $45 million, up roughly $5 million from the previous year. 2001 also saw an increase of nearly 500,000 tickets sold. In 2007, they created the Guzzo Environment-Cancer Research Chair of the Cancer Research Society in partnership with the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte- ...

. The following year, the first ever Notte in Bianco fundraising event took place, which raised roughly $400,000 in support of the fight against cancer. In July 2012, Cinémas Guzzo completed their conversion of all their projectors to digital projectors. That same year, saw the opening of five IMAX screens at selected existing locations. In late-2018, it was reported that Guzzo had been considering expanding his chain outside of Quebec, and had been investigating potential sites in

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

and

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, such as Calgary and Vancouver. During the

COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec The COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec is part of an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Until 2021, Quebec had reported t ...

in 2020, cinemas were forced to shut down from March 25 to July 2 in Quebec. Guzzo had hoped to remain open during the closure period, but that did not come to pass. After cinemas reopened, theatre capacity was reduced to prevent spread of

SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...

infections leading to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

, with enhanced sanitary and cleaning protocols. The 2020 season was threatened by the situation in the U.S. as American chains could not operate in many places, and American studios did not release films into the market due to the COVID and screenroom situation. Theatres were again closed on October 1 in Montreal, where Guzzo operates. In 2021, as the COVID-19 pandemic continued, the Guzzo chain declined to reopen, as it believed that reopening restrictions were too strict and it refused to accept further government subsidies. The government imposed a provincial lockdown from December 26, 2020 to February 7, 2021, and later announced that cinemas across Quebec could reopen on February 26, 2021, with several restrictions. In red zones, where the Guzzo chain is located, this includes a 7:30 PM closing time and a ban on food and drinks during movies. Guzzo noted that no outbreaks have occurred in all of Canada through cinemas during 2020. Cinema Mega-Plex Saint-Jean 12 is scheduled to open December 17, 2021, Cinemas Guzzo's 10th location.

Theatres

References

External links

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Cinémas Guzzo MOBILE Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cinemas Guzzo Movie theatre chains in Canada Companies based in Quebec Terrebonne, Quebec Cinemas and movie theatres in Quebec Privately held companies of Canada 1974 establishments in Quebec