Convention - CinemaCon 2026: Celebrating the Visionary Journey of Ellis Jacob

By Mulder, 18 february 2026

CinemaCon 2026 will open with a celebration of recognition and legacy, as Ellis Jacob, President and CEO of Cineplex Entertainment, will receive the prestigious Legend of Cinema Award during the opening night gala at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The announcement, made by Michael O'Leary, President and CEO of Cinema United, immediately resonated around the world, both because of the rarity of the honor and the symbolic timing surrounding Ellis Jacob's long-awaited retirement, placing the Canadian executive alongside Martin Scorsese as only the second person to receive Cinema United's highest honor, a duo that quietly underscores how much the modern cinematic experience depends not only on visionary filmmakers, but also on the architects of the industry who ensure that movie theaters survive, evolve, and remain culturally essential in a period marked by technological upheaval, the repercussions of the pandemic, and changing audience behaviors.

For those who have closely followed the exhibition industry over the past four decades, Ellis Jacob's trajectory reads like a model of resilience and transformation: born in 1953 in Calcutta, West Bengal, to Syrian-Iraqi Jewish parents, Raymond and Tryphosa Jacob, he immigrated to Canada in 1969, where he first entered the corporate world with positions at Ford Motor Company of Canada and Motorola, before making a decisive move into cinema operations in October 1987, when he joined Cineplex Odeon Corporation as Chief Financial Officer, a pivotal period during which the company faced financial instability and underwent strategic restructuring. Ellis Jacob contributed to the chain's recovery in 1993, and was promoted to Chief Operating Officer in 1996, demonstrating early on a combination of budgetary discipline and operational pragmatism that would later define his leadership style, particularly during periods of industry downturn when the movie theater business had to repeatedly justify its relevance in the face of home entertainment revolutions and digital consumption trends.

Ellis Jacob's departure from Cineplex Odeon in 1998, following its merger with Loews Theatres to form Loews Cineplex Entertainment, did not mark his exit from the industry, but rather the beginning of a new chapter of expansion, as he briefly led integration efforts at Alliance Atlantis before co-founding Galaxy Entertainment Inc. in 1999 alongside Gerry Schwartz, CEO of Onex Corporation, with the bold mission of building modern multiplexes in small and medium-sized Canadian cities. This initiative subtly reshaped regional movie attendance by introducing high-end cinema infrastructure beyond major metropolitan centers. This entrepreneurial gamble paid off when, on November 26, 2003, Ellis Jacob became CEO of the newly merged Cineplex Galaxy Income Fund, combining Galaxy Cinemas and the Canadian assets of the restructured Loews Cineplex, creating a chain of 86 movie theaters and laying the foundation for what would become Cineplex, Canada's leading entertainment and media company.

Under Ellis Jacob's leadership, Cineplex did much more than consolidate its screens, as evidenced by the company's significant expansion milestones and diversification strategy throughout the 2000s and 2010s, including the June 2005 acquisition of Famous Players from National Amusements, which effectively doubled Cineplex's size and cemented its status as the fourth-largest theater chain in North America. The following years saw the company expand into related areas, including gaming venues, food service, digital media, and location-based entertainment concepts such as The Rec Room, reflecting Ellis Jacob's long-held belief that movie theaters should function as entertainment venues rather than simply places to watch movies, an idea that proved particularly prescient as operators around the world sought ways to counterbalance competition from streaming with premium formats, event programming, and immersive social experiences.

Cinema United's decision to honor Ellis Jacob with the Legend of Cinema Award is particularly significant given his visible commitment to cinema operation during years of turbulence and uncertainty, a period that tested even the largest circuits with closures, capacity restrictions, and changing distribution models. Industry observers will remember Ellis Jacob's consistent public stance emphasizing the irreplaceable community dimension of cinema, as well as his tenure as chairman of the board of Cinema United from 2018 to 2020, followed by receiving the CinemaCon Marquee Award in 2022, distinctions that collectively illustrate a career marked not only by his leadership within the company, but also by his mentorship and representation across the industry. Michael O'Leary describes Ellis Jacob as a tireless advocate whose influence on positioning cinema operations for future success cannot be overstated, a sentiment widely shared in professional circles where Ellis Jacob is often cited as one of the leaders who helped stabilize confidence in cinema recovery strategies.

Beyond boardrooms and acquisitions, Ellis Jacob's personal gestures have also contributed to his reputation, notably the March 14, 2013, opening of a family cinema at Baycrest Health Sciences in North York in honor of his late mother, Tryphosa Jacob, an initiative that reflects a more intimate connection with the emotional and social value of shared movie-going experiences. His mastery of several languages, including Hindi, English, and French, reflects the cultural diversity that has long characterized Cineplex's audience across Canada. These aspects of his biography lend texture to his acceptance speech, in which he says he is “deeply honored,” reaffirming his unwavering belief in the power of cinema to bring people together and highlighting the unique place of the movie-going experience in cultural life.

CinemaCon, which will be held April 13-16, 2026, at Caesars Palace, remains the world's largest gathering of movie theater operators, attracting more than 6,000 cinema professionals from the exhibition, distribution, equipment, and food service sectors, under the umbrella of Cinema United, the professional organization founded in 1948 representing more than 31,000 screens in the United States and more than 30,000 internationally in 80 countries, with The Coca-Cola Company continuing to be the official sponsor. In this global context, the recognition of Ellis Jacob is more than just a highlight of the ceremony; it becomes a moment of reflection on how the industry has survived cycles of disruption thanks to leaders who have been able to strike a balance between financial management, technological adaptation, and audience-centered innovation—qualities that have defined Ellis Jacob's presence in the industry for nearly forty years and explain why his name now joins the select lineage of CinemaCon legends.

(Source: press release)