As time has passed, the city of Casablanca has gained the reputation of having the most movie theaters, seats and tickets sold per capita in the world. In the early 1900s, when France began the process of building a new colonial quarter near the medina of Casablanca, for some inexplicable reason, the French decided that each new residential complex should have its own elevator (something previously unheard of in Europe; and sometimes even two elevators in the building – a remarkable thought for that time) and its own movie theater. 

The French predicted that cinema would eventually become a part of home entertainment. With the intention of creating movie theaters of different sizes (depending on the size of the building), they set a trend. Some private halls were located in basements and semi–basements and were of considerable size. Little did they know that soon enough, televisions would be a part of almost every home. As the boulevard De La Gare (now known as Mohammed V boulevard) was filled with new quarters, it was decided to limit the number of movie theaters (one theater per quarter), but to increase their size. Today, all that is left of this period are memories! 

Movie theaters are closing one by one due to lack of funds! It is hard for those who remain to attract the local audience, which prefers to download movies for free on the computer or simply purchase them for 10 dirhams in Derb Ralef.