Even the colossal Hollywood flop Ben-Hur and fumbled franchise spinoff Ghostbusters couldn't hold back Cineplex Inc. from improved profits in the crucial summer months.
Canada's largest movie theatre chain delivered a 21.3-per cent boost in net income during the third quarter, helped by more customers buying premium-priced tickets to 3D movies, Imax screenings and its VIP theatres.
But it wasn't exactly a quarter to boast about on the theatrical side, with a number of hyped movies fizzling out on opening weekend.
Overall attendance dipped 1 per cent to 19.2 million moviegoers in the July to September period.
"There were a few ones that were very disappointing, like Ben-Hur, which everybody expected to do business, but just didn't deliver," said Cineplex chief executive Ellis Jacob in an interview.
"That one was a challenge."
The testosterone-fuelled remake of the 1959 Charlton Heston classic wasn't the only dud to emerge from the late summer months.
Family flick Ice Age: Collision Course left theatres almost as quickly as it arrived, while Ghostbusters was a disappointment. Others like War Dogs and Blair Witch were merely cinematic footnotes on a busy calendar of titles.
DC Comics superhero adventure Suicide Squad managed to be the quarter's biggest title, overcoming a rash of terrible reviews to prove it had legs with younger audiences. It represented 12 per cent of quarterly box-office revenues.
Other big hits included The Secret Life of Pets and Star Trek Beyond.
Cineplex's results included higher box-office revenue of $9.37 per patron, which was up from $8.89 in the same period of last year. Overall revenue rose 14 per cent to $376-million.
Cineplex's media division, which houses its digital signage business for retailers and its in-house advertising, saw revenues jump 16.2 per cent to $29.1-million. The improvement was driven mainly by new contracts signed to install its digital food menu boards at chains such as Dairy Queen and A&W Canada.