The lingering Avatar effect has hit Cineplex.

The Canadian exhibition giant posted a first quarter loss Thursday after Canadians made far fewer trips to the local multiplex in the spring.

Toronto-based Cineplex, which operates around 1,326 screens from British Columbia to Quebec, swung to a loss of $800,000, against a year-earlier profit of $3.8 million.

First quarter revenues fell 13.3% to $221.4 million, as 14.6% fewer Canadians, or 15.3 million in all, saw a movie at a Cineplex venue during the latest frame.

Cineplex in the first quarter of 2010 had James Cameron’s Avatar 3D in its theatres, contributing 25% of box office during that period.

During the latest quarter, The King’s Speech contributed just 7% of overall revenue, with no other Hollywood movies stepping forward to make up for lost business with significant box office.

The other top performers for Cineplex during the latest quarter included The Green Hornet, Just Go With It and Gnomeo and Juliet, which was animated in Toronto.

A fall-off in theatre attendance also hit key concession revenues for Cineplex, which fell 12.3% to just over $65 million.

“Although the exhibition industry experienced a box office decline from the record results in Q1 2010, our diversified business model and related revenue streams provided significant other revenue growth over the prior year,” Ellis Jacob, president and CEO of Cineplex Entertainment, said in a statement that accompanied the financial results.

Cineplex last month said it paid $3.3 million to buy New Way Sales Games, which supplies its arcade games, in a further bid to diversify its business away from its supply of Hollywood studio pictures.