Golden Screen Cinemas Sdn Bhd (GSC) is Malaysia's largest cinema exhibitor and a wholly owned subsidiary of PPB Group Berhad (a member of the Kuok Group), which is an exhibitor and distributor of movies and content in Malaysia. It operates over 600 screens in 70 locations across Malaysia and Vietnam, with 504 screens in 55 locations in Malaysia, and 108 screens in 18 locations in Vietnam through a partnership with Galaxy Studio.

History

Establishment of Golden Communications Circuit (1987–1990) Golden Screen was founded on 1 April 1987 under the name of Golden Communications Circuit, a joint venture between Hong Kong's Golden Harvest (from which it inherited the studio's iconic Big "G" logo) and the Malaysian Bumiputera conglomerate PPB Group (then Perlis Plantations), the latter of whom operated a small set of Malaysian cinemas leased from Shaw Brothers Studio. There were in the beginning 30 cinemas covering all Malaysia's major cities and towns, and at the time, Golden Harvest and Perlis Plantations owned respectively 70 and 30 percent of the stakes in the joint venture.

The films at that time were showcased in three languages: Malay, English and Chinese, with Golden Harvest in-house films forming majority of the shown movies. The English movies on the other hand were mostly of Hollywood origin, with some exceptions from European Countries.

Acquisition of Cathay Cinemas by Perlis Plantations Berhad (1990–1998)

In June 1990, Perlis Plantations Berhad expanded its entertainment portfolio by acquiring stakes in the Borneo Filem Organisation Sdn Bhd (BFO) from the State Government of Sabah, which later restructured as Cathay Cinemas Sdn Bhd. This strategic purchase brought the Malaysian operations of 33 Cathay Organisation and 33 Golden Communications Cinemas under the same corporate umbrella.

Control of the newly acquired cinema, which was 66.2 percent owned by Cathay Cinemas and the rest by Permodalan Nasional Berhad assumed in October the same year, resulting in termination of services of between 20 to 30 of its employees.

By 1991 however, the shares of Perlis Plantations in Golden Communications had shrunk to just 58.6 per cent to allow investment from other shareholders, while Golden Harvest own the remaining 27 per cent.

On 7 July 1994, Cathay Cinemas signed a joint venture agreement with United Artist Theatre and Wilton Group to expand the cinema network in Malaysia and abroad, forming a joint venture named Premier Cinemas Sdn Bhd.

In 1996, Perlis Plantations restructured its cinemas and leisure operations by injecting Golden Communications Assets into that of Cathay Cinemas Sdn Bhd, creating a new business entity called PPB Leisure Holdings Sdn Bhd. By that time, Cathay cinemas owned the largest chain of cinemas in Malaysia, totaling 47 of them when accounting Premier Cinemas and Cathay Organisation operations.

Brand merger and consolidation into Golden Screen Cinemas (1998–present) In January 1998, Golden Communications (GC) Circuit and the Malaysian branch of Cathay Organisation were officially merged and consolidated into one major brand: Golden Screen Cinemas. The newly established cinema chain had 30 cinemas nationwide at the time.

On 2 December 1999, GSC opened the Asia' largest multiplex with 18 Screens - GSC Mid Valley at Mid Valley Megamall. To celebrate this momentous occasion, it gave away 18 local and international movie tickets for free during its one-week Movie Marathon Campaign, with those patrons completed their rounds of all movie watching offered grand prizes like trip to selected tourist destinations, season pass and T-shirts. That very same date, the International Screens concept was introduced at the all-new Mid Valley Branch to distribute highly acclaimed international movies from places like Hong Kong and Hollywood.

On 12 January 2000, Malaysia Book of Records under management of Director Danny Ooi recognised the Mid Valley multiplex as the largest in the country and awarded the title to the cinema chain.

Locations

GSC is present in all states and territories of Malaysia except in Labuan and Kelantan, the latter of which has banned cinema within the state since 1990.

Johor

CinemaTotal HallsSeatsLocationRemarksAEON Mall Bandar Dato' Onn5658Johor BahruFeatures GSC Big and Play+KSL City Mall81,378Johor BahruFeatures D-BOX and GSC BIG Kluang Mall6933KluangHeritage Mall71,043Kota TinggiParadigm Mall Johor Bahru172,137Johor BahruFeatures 2 Premiere Class Halls, 4DX Hall, D-BOX, Dolby ATMOS and IMAX Hall Square One Shopping Mall81,135Batu PahatFeatures GSC PlaySunway Big Box Retail Park81,500Iskandar PuteriFeatures GSC Play+Mid Valley Southkey191,686Johor BahruFeatures GSC's first IMAX Hall, 4DX, D-BOX, SkyBox, Dolby ATMOS, Play+ and Aurum TheatreIOI Mall Kulai6640KulaiFeaturing Play+

Kedah CinemaTotal HallsSeatsLocationRemarksAman Central101,599Alor SetarAmanjaya Mall81,287Sungai PetaniKulim Central61,108Kulim

Kuala Lumpur

CinemaTotal HallsSeatsLocationRemarksEkoCheras Mall91,161CherasLotus's Kepong71,066KepongMid Valley Megamall212,688Mid ValleyLargest cinema in Malaysia. Features D-BOX, Dolby ATMOS and ONYX LED ScreenMelawati Mall101,424MelawatiFeatures Premiere Class, IMAX 3DMyTOWN Shopping Centre131,470CherasFeatures GSC BIG, Premiere Class, Dolby ATMOS and D-BOXNU Sentral111,783BrickfieldsFeatures Dolby ATMOSQuill City Mall101,751Kampung BaruFeatures Dolby ATMOSSetapak Central71,020SetapakThe Gardens Mall7226Mid ValleyAurum Theatre (formerly GSC Signatures)Mitsui Shopping Park LaLaport BBCC121,282Bukit Bintang Features GSC BIG and 4DXKL East Mall81058Wangsa MajuFeatures IMAX and PlayParkSunway 163 Mall3163Mont KiaraVelvet Cinemas, a boutique cinema outlet by GSCThe Exchange TRX10796Tun Razak ExchangeAurum Theatre - Features Getha Lux Suite, Comfort Cabin, Escape Studio, Screen X & IMAX 3D HallRex Cinema11,100Petaling StreetClosed and repurposed to RexKL

Malacca

CinemaTotal HallsSeatsLocationRemarksAEON Mall Bandaraya Melaka101,783MalaccaFeatures D-BOX and Dolby ATMOSDataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall102,004MalaccaFeatures D-BOX and Dolby ATMOS

Negeri Sembilan

CinemaTotal HallsSeatsLocationRemarksPalm Mall101,660SerembanFeatures D-BOX

Pahang

CinemaTotal HallsSeatsLocationRemarksEast Coast Mall91,633KuantanFeatures D-BOX and Dolby ATMOSKuantan City Mall91,346KuantanFeatures GSC Play and GSC BIGMentakab Mall61,100Mentakab

Penang

CinemaTotal HallsSeatsLocationRemarksQueensbay Mall81,528Bayan LepasFeatures Dolby ATMOSGurney Plaza121,617George TownFeatures D-BOX, Dolby ATMOS and Premiere ClassSunway Carnival Mall14910Seberang JayaFeaturing Dolby ATMOS

Perak

CinemaTotal HallsSeatsLocationRemarksAEON Mall Falim81,149IpohFeatures GSC PlayIpoh Parade122,000IpohFeatures D-BOX, Dolby ATMOS and GSC BIG, 4DX

Perlis

CinemaTotal HallsSeatsLocationRemarksKangar Jaya Mall6747KangarOpened on 19 December 2025. Features GSC Play

Putrajaya

CinemaTotal HallsSeatsLocationRemarksIOI City Mall (West Wing)132,047Precinct 12Features 4DX, D-BOX, Dolby ATMOS and GSC MaxxIOI City Mall (East Wing)134,000Precinct 12Located on Level 3 of East Wing. Features Play+, Premiere Class and IMAX Hall with IMAX Laser Projection.

Sabah

CinemaTotal HallsSeatsLocationRemarks1Borneo Hypermall81,504Kota KinabaluSuria Sabah81,471Kota KinabaluFeatures D-BOX and Dolby ATMOSImago KK Times Square81,018Kota Kinabalu

Sarawak

CinemaTotal HallsSeatsLocationRemarksBintang Megamall81,010MiriCityOne Megamall101,868KuchingFeatures D-BOX and Dolby ATMOSThe Spring Shopping Mall91,508KuchingThe Spring Bintulu91,118BintuluFeatures D-BOX, Dolby ATMOS and GSC play

Selangor

CinemaTotal HallsSeatsLocationRemarks1 Utama (New Wing)131,900Petaling JayaFeatures 4DX, D-BOX, Dolby ATMOS, Play Park, Screen X, GSC BIG and Prestige HallIOI Mall Damansara121,729Petaling JayaFeatures GSC Big, Dolby ATMOS, ONYX LED Screen, GSC Play, MX4D and Premiere ClassIOI Mall Puchong101,755PuchongFeatures GSC Play+Paradigm Mall91,592Petaling JayaSetia City Mall91,570Shah AlamFeatures Dolby ATMOSSubang Parade91,249Subang JayaFeatures GSC PlaySummit USJ101,387Subang JayaFeatures Dolby ATMOS and THX HallThe Starling Mall101,365Petaling JayaFeatures GSC Play and MX4D

Terengganu CinemaTotal HallsSeatsLocationRemarksMayang Mall8TBAKuala TerengganuFirst GSC cinema in Terengganu will be opening in 2026

See also Lotus Five Star TGV Cinemas MBO Cinemas

References

External links