Ellis Jacob, the longtime president and CEO of Canadian exhibition giantCineplex, has opened up about planning to retire at the end of 2026 after an earlier potential exit from was forestalled in 2020 when Regal owner Cineworld called off its planned $2.1 billion takeover as the coronavirus pandemic shut down cinemas across the industry.

I was supposed to sell the company five and a half years ago, and COVID hit, and that wasnt a good time. But now its an appropriate transitional time because I feel we will be a stronger and better company, Jacob told The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday after the release of his companys second quarter financial results. What made me look forward is the business stabilizing. I want to spend time with the family, he added. Jacobs optimism for the Canadian exhibition giant coincides with a shrinking Q2 loss as Hollywood box office produced a big jump in attendance and overall revenues.

Total revenue jumped 30.5 percent to $361.8 million (US$262.6 million) as Hollywood tentpoles like A Minecraft Movie, Lilo Stitch and Mission: Impossible The Final Reckoning performed on Cineplex screens.

That led theater attendance to jump nearly 33 percent to 11.6 million patrons, and total box office revenue was up 38.4 percent to CAN$158.5 million (US$115 million). Cineplex also set quarterly records for box office per patron and concession sales per patron.

The latest financial quarter saw the company shrink its net loss to CAN$2.2 million (US$1.6 million), against a year-earlier CAN$21.3 million.

As we look to the second half of the year, we are energized by the momentum we are seeing across our business. The summer movie season extended into the third quarter, Jacob told analysts in prepared remarks on a morning conference call.

Company execs were keen to point to four consecutive quarters of strong Hollywood box office results, to underline continuing and consistent cinema attendance not seen since before the pandemic. We believe this momentum is more than a trend. Its a signal of whats possible when content, experience and execution align with a strong foundation and focus, Cineplex CFO Gord Nelson told analysts.

Jacob also told THR an improving movie supply from Hollywood is bolstering the fortunes of exhibitors. He pointed to Amazon MGM Studios ramping up its own theatrical movie production, which stands to be repeated at Paramount after its takeover by David Ellisons Skydance.

Jacob is also looking to how Apple reacts to the box office success of F1 and how that accelerates the tech giants production of movies and TV shows as it looks to compete in both theaters and the streaming space with Netflix. Im just waiting to see what Apple decides after the strong performance of F1. That to me is important because then you re getting a lot more content as we move forward. At the end of the day, as much as the streamers talk, the bottom line is the movie experience and the word of mouth that can carry over, he argued.