The merger that made Sony Loews and Cineplex Odeon into a single money train brought with it the scrutiny of the U.S. Department of Justice. And there they remain, still earning the bucks for the Loews Cineplex monolith. We operate them and book them as if they're never going to leave. A call to the Illinois Attorney General's Office, which joined the DOJ antitrust settlement, produces nearly audible head scratching. We're going through all appropriate steps and our trustees are attempting to sell them.
New competition is much more than potential.
And we're talking megaplexes, not multiplexes. Century is the largest client of Lucasfilm's THX sound system, and they'll offer that, in addition to the requisite large screens and stadium seating. It's going to be the nicest theater in town. Right now we're doing twenty to twenty-fours. Tucker says this type of new construction belies the government's assertion that the Loews Cineplex merger swallowed competition.