Korea’s RNR takes movies to another dimension with Monoplex

The hotel cinema is housed in Kintex by K-tree Hotel in Ilsan in the Seoul metropolitan area. [Photo provided by Monoplex]

Customized cinema solution provider Monoplex opened its 10th cinema that offers movie theaters within a hotel in September as parts of business to provide screens at small areas.

Monoplex is a specialized cinema service provider operated by RNR Inc., a Korean startup that provides cinema solutions needed to create movie theaters. Like Airbnb, a combination of accommodation and sharing economy, RNR creates unique movie theaters without actually building them but using its partners’ spaces.

“It is realistically difficult for an individual to create a large-scale movie theater that can only be operated with a large amount of capital,” said Ray Seok, founder and chief executive officer of RNR. “However, Monoplex can increase the value of a space by providing all solutions for movies with a small amount of capital without space constraints. Monoplex’s goal is to present a new movie paradigm beyond a simple movie ticketing platfom.”

The country’s first hotel cinema it launched last year was housed in Kintex by K-tree Hotel in Ilsan in the Seoul metropolitan area. The hotel is a 16-story building with four basement floors and 422 rooms. It is located right next to the Korea International Exhibition Center (KINTEX), the largest exhibition venue in Korea. The hotel cinema named K-Tree Hotel X MONOPLEX offers the convenience resembling that of a hotel as all seats are recliners equipped with a minibar, according to the company.

Adding screen culture to diverse spaces and diverse values is Monoplex’s motto. Rather than deciding which movie to watch and then looking for a nearby large-scale movie theater, they pursue a space-centered movie culture, in which they first decide which space to go to and then select movie content.

Monoplex cinemas include MilkBook, a kids movie theater located in Paju, AhnYoungChae, a hanok dining movie theater located in Dongtan and Koreanfolk Drive-in Theater located in Yongin. Unlike large movie theaters with 200 to 300 seats, it has two to 40 seats, so it can be used for small gatherings and events.

Monoplex announced that it applied for trademark rights in more than 10 countries, including the U.S. and the European Union, and is in the process of global expansion.