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PVR to bring 4DX technology to India with CJ 4DPLEX
MUMBAI: India’s largest multiplex operator PVR has inked a deal with 4D cinema company CJ 4DPLEX to bring 4DX technology to its movie theatres.
PVR will launch the 4DX technology at PVR Cinemas this year at its first Superplex, a 15-screen multiplex at Logix City Centre in Noida, India. This will make the Superplex India’s most advanced cinematic viewing experience, strategically located in the heart of the city, bringing the audience world class formats including Imax, ECX, PVR Premier, PVR Gold Class, PVR 4DX and PVR Playhouse.
PVR CEO Gautam Dutta said, “We are excited about our association with CJ 4DPLEX. India is a land of cinema lovers. The country has an immense potential to both produce and consume movies in various formats. Introducing 4DX at PVR Cinemas will be another step to offer finest movie experience to our patrons here. PVR has always aimed to give the best to its audiences and we see a promising future for this technology in our country.”
CJ 4DPLEX CEO Byun Hwan Choi added, “Our partnership with PVR is a great opportunity for 4DX to accelerate expansion in the world’s largest film-producing country. Being loved by the Indian moviegoers is a worthwhile challenge for us, and we are eager to achieve it. We look forward to a successful partnership with PVR.”
CJ 4DPLEX is also expanding its reach in Japan and has inked deals with two Japanese exhibitors. As of 31 March, it signed with Harima Enterprise to bring a 96-seat 4DX auditorium to a newly built multiplex in Himeji city, Japan. Additionally, another top-tier Japanese exhibitor is scheduled to sign in the last week of this month, becoming 4DX’s sixth partner exhibitor in Japan – the second largest number of partners in a single country thus far, behind only China.
Since its first 4D screening of Avatar in 2010, CJ 4DPLEX has brought more than 23,000 4DX seats to 170 theatres in 33 countries – opening on approximately one new screen every week as theatres recognize the power of being able to offer a wider range of formats and differentiated movie-going experiences to its patrons. In 2014 alone, 4DX launched 53 new screens compared with 47 in the previous year. Globally, 4DX has attracted more than 20 million attendees as of January 2014, and it is expected to pass 30 million by the end of 2015.
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UK’s OnlyFans seeks US investor at $3bn valuation after owner’s death
The adult video platform is seeking stability after the death of its billionaire owner
LONDON: OnlyFans is looking for a new partner. The London-based adult video platform is in advanced talks to sell a minority stake of less than 20 per cent to Architect Capital, a San Francisco-based investment firm, in a deal that would value the business at more than $3bn (£2.2bn).
The move is driven by an urgent need for stability. Leonid Radvinsky, the Ukrainian-American billionaire who owned OnlyFans, died of cancer last month at the age of 43, leaving the future of one of Britain’s most profitable privately held businesses suddenly uncertain.
The choice of Architect Capital is not arbitrary. The firm has deep expertise in financial services, which aligns neatly with OnlyFans’ ambitions to offer banking products to its creators, many of whom have long struggled to access basic financial services because of the nature of their work.
The numbers behind OnlyFans are, by any measure, staggering. The platform posted revenues of $1.4bn in the year to 30th November 2024, with a pre-tax profit of $684m, up four per cent on the prior year. Payments to creators totalled $7.2bn over the same period, a rise of nearly ten per cent. Radvinsky personally collected $701m in dividends from the business in 2024 alone, on top of more than $1bn in such payments he had already received. The platform, run through its parent company Felix International, hosts 4.6m creator accounts, with performers keeping 80 per cent of subscription proceeds and the platform pocketing the remaining 20 per cent. It has 377m fan accounts in total.
The current minority stake talks represent a notable scaling back of ambitions. In January, OnlyFans was reported to be in discussions with Architect about selling a majority stake of 60 per cent. Before that, the company had explored a sale to a consortium led by Forest Road Company, a Los Angeles-based investment firm. Neither deal materialised.
OnlyFans has built an enormously lucrative business on content that mainstream finance has long refused to touch. Now, with its owner gone and a $3bn valuation on the table, it is looking for the kind of respectable institutional backing that might finally persuade the banks to take its calls.
