the essential
Directors of the CinéAzur company and those responsible for the Rex in Foix, Marjorie and Sébastien Tacquet have been chosen to take the helm of the future multiplex which is to see the light of day in the heart of the county town. They detail their project.
The decision has been official since the community council of the Foix-Varilhes agglomeration on December 11. Marjorie and Sébastien Tacquet, directors of the company CinéAzur and responsible for the Rex in Foix, will be the operators of the future multiplex which should see the light of day in 2027 in the center of the prefectural city.
“We are delighted to have won this call for tenders and we thank the elected officials of the agglomeration for their confidence. […] We are on a project of three rooms, which is intelligently sized for the city of Foix, […] designed to revitalize the city center and meet the demand of our moviegoers that we cannot satisfy with a single screen,” commented the couple, competing on the project with only one other candidate.
A first selection on file took place on November 10, 2022, followed by a first audition on September 12, 2022 and a second on October 2, 2024. “Mr. Tacquet and the people who accompanied him gave the best performance” , estimated Thomas Fromentin, president of the agglomeration, which is financing the construction of the building, estimated at 5 million euros.
A costly project, which has seen many twists and turns, but which seems to have been definitively launched thanks to a last-minute European grant. “We are all making efforts to make it a success. But as long as the ribbon is not cut, we will remain focused on this absolutely essential objective to achieve,” affirm the future operators.
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A latest generation cinema “accessible to as many people as possible”
The managers of the CinéAzur company will invest more than 800,000 euros to fit out the interior, with the watchword: quality of service. “To bring spectators out of their little interior comfort, the cinema must offer a wonderful setting. The three-screen project that we are developing in partnership with the Foix-Varilhes agglomeration will be a latest generation cinema, with latest image and sound technologies, laser projection, 4K sound and very comfortable armchair”, explains Sébastien Tacquet, also located in Var, Alpes-Maritimes, Aveyron and Tarn.
A quality of service that will not inflate the price of tickets, future managers assure. “Above all, it will be a cinema accessible to the greatest number of people, we must address all audiences. Which implies affordable and acceptable prices.”
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“We firmly believe in this project”
A pleasing prospect as the Rex’s only room beat its pre-Covid annual attendance in 2024. “We firmly believe in this project. When we see the results that we obtain with a single room, we are convinced that we will be able to achieve the objectives of the market study which provides, after three years operating, 80,000 spectators per year. […] The development of this multiplex and its upcoming opening come at a time when the health crisis is behind us and cinema continues to reinvent itself, […] to innovate with original films that arouse public interest.”
DR
To attract spectators, the future managers also plan to increase the number of events. “The creation of this multiplex implies that it becomes a place of life, with meetings of directors, film crews, activities for young audiences, workshops, exchanges with spectators, film debates… We We are keen to be more present on the animation side in this larger cinema.” Opening planned for the first half of 2027.
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The manager of the Foix cinema at the head of the future multiplex, the decision rendered this Wednesday, December 11 by the Agglomeration
“Do not close the city’s historic cinema”: The Rex will remain open
The announcement comes as a relief to many avid moviegoers. The opening of the new Foix cinema complex in 2027 will not condemn Le Rex and its only theater, as announced by its managers Marjorie and Sébastien Tacquet. “A cherry on the cake”, for the managers of the CinéAzur company, also operators of the future cinema. “We will try to keep the Rex open, with a program made up of recent films, revivals, animation, school sessions as well. We are well aware that the Fuxéens are like us, very attached to this establishment which has been open since 35 years,” they announce.
“We are all attached to this small room”
The Rex could thus offer art house films, like the future complex, but with “more confidential” productions, with “a different angle”, which remains to be defined. “The objective is to leave the Rex open. We are lucky to have a pretty little room, which has a soul, which is appreciated by spectators. The idea is not to close the historic cinema of the city because that we create a multiplex. […] It was while talking with our spectators that we realized that there was a little concern for the life of this room. We are all attached to this little room, we all have memories there.”
