About three weeks ago, Ster-Kinekor announced it would be retrenching more than 200 employees due to "operational issues."

ITWeb reported the affected departments were the CEO's office, marketing, sales, human capital, information technology, business operations, content, finance, head office, regional operations and cinemas.

Ster-Kinekor, one of South Africa's oldest theatre movie companies, said in a statement the lay-offs were the result of a "challenging economic environment, prolonged and more intense load-shedding, as well as the impact of the Hollywood actors' and writers' strikes."

The cinema giant has now put a revival plan in place and announced the launch of Throwback Cinema titles, starting with Chicago at selected cinemas. Tickets will be R50.

"People who love movies love reliving all the great movie moments on the big screen," Lynne Wylie, chief marketing officer of Ster-Kinekor, told Biz Community.

"Throwback Cinema allows us to bring back some of these unforgettable titles for our customers to enjoy at a very affordable ticket price."

Throwback Cinema titles will air at selected Ster-Kinekor theatres, namely Fourways and Sandton in Johannesburg, Irene and The Grove in Tshwane, Mall of the North in Polokwane, Gateway in Umhlanga, Somerset Mall in Somerset West, and Tygervalley and V&A Waterfront in Cape Town.

"At the moment we're re-looking across the suite to try and dispel the myth between price and value, and I think watch this space for some interesting developments," said Ster-Kinekor CEO Mark Sardi during an interview on Jeremy Magg's MoneyWeb podcast.

Mark also mentioned plans for the brand: "I also think repurposing some of our cinemas during the week for other things and collaborating with other forms of entertainment is going to be important as we walk through this journey of reminding people about cinema again."