Amazon MGM Studios , formerly Amazon Studios , is an American film and television production and distribution studio owned by Amazon . It was launched in 2010. It took its current name in May 2023 following its merger with MGM Holdings , which Amazon had acquired the year prior.
165-609: Productions from this studio, as of September 2023, are primarily distributed through movie theaters under the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) label and Amazon's own streaming media service, Amazon Prime Video . Alongside Amazon Prime Video, the company constitutes one half of Amazon's membership in the Motion Picture Association (MPA), which it joined on October 1, 2024. Scripts for television and films used to be submitted online to Amazon and read by staff; however,
330-415: A digital cinema format that uses dual 2K resolution projectors and a screen with a 1.90:1 aspect ratio; this system is designed primarily for use in retrofitted multiplexes, using screens significantly smaller than those normally associated with IMAX. In 2015, IMAX introduced an updated "IMAX with Laser" format, using 4K resolution laser projectors. The term " premium large format " ( PLF ) emerged in
495-631: A movie house , film house , film theater , cinema or picture house . In the US, theater has long been the preferred spelling, while in the UK, Australia, Canada and elsewhere it is theatre . However, some US theaters opt to use the British spelling in their own names, a practice supported by the National Association of Theatre Owners , while apart from Anglophone North America most English-speaking countries use
660-409: A "+" to "MGM" is a signifier that while the channel will continue with a linear cable offering, MGM+ will also position itself as a sister service of Amazon's streaming services, alongside Amazon Prime Video and ad-supported Amazon Freevee (to the point Wright revealed it was Amazon who pushed for such a rebrand following the company's acquisition); the service is expected to remain an a la carte at
825-628: A 45% minority interest in July 2007). Studio 3 Partners chose the Viacom subdivision MTV Networks (now Paramount Media Networks ) to provide operational support, marketing services and affiliate distribution for the channel. (Through its ownership of both Showtime Networks parent CBS Corporation and the successor Viacom, National Amusements controlled four of the nine American pay television services then in operation—Epix, Showtime, The Movie Channel and Flix—from Epix's founding until Viacom divested its majority share in
990-796: A 45% stake in Roadside, with the remaining interest primarily held by studio founders Howard Cohen and Eric d'Arbeloff.) Since June 2019, the channel also carries sub-licensed library movie product from Lions Gate Entertainment (along with content from subsidiaries Summit Entertainment , Grindstone Entertainment Group and Pantelion Films and now-defunct/former units Mandate Pictures , Artisan Entertainment , Codeblack Films , Mandalay Pictures , Maple Pictures , Prism Pictures and Trimark Pictures , all for films released prior to 2020), Sony Pictures Entertainment (which includes films from Columbia Pictures , TriStar Pictures , Sony Pictures Classics , Screen Gems and Morgan Creek Entertainment , among others);
1155-566: A Comedy Series for Brosnahan. United Artists Releasing's Women Talking earned a nomination for Best Picture at the 95th Academy Awards and won the award for Best Adapted Screenplay . In 2023, Orion Pictures ' American Fiction earned Amazon MGM Studios its first win for the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival following the studio's rebrand. The film went on to receive five nominations at
1320-564: A better view. Many modern theaters have accessible seating areas for patrons in wheelchairs. See also luxury screens below. Canada was the first country in the world to have a two-screen theater. The Elgin Theatre in Ottawa, Ontario became the first venue to offer two film programs on different screens in 1957 when Canadian theater-owner Nat Taylor converted the dual screen theater into one capable of showing two different movies simultaneously. Taylor
1485-537: A break in between. Separate admission for a short subject is rare; it is either an extra before a feature film or part of a series of short films sold as one admission (this mainly occurs at film festivals). (See also anthology film .) In the early decades of "talkie" films, many movie theaters presented a number of shorter items in addition to the feature film. This might include a newsreel , live-action comedy short films, documentary short films, musical short films, or cartoon shorts (many classic cartoons series such as
1650-530: A buyout led by Sony Pictures . In 2015, Transparent was the first show produced by Amazon Studios to win a major award and the first show produced by a streaming media service to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy (a.k.a. "Golden Globe for Best Series"). In 2017, for Manchester by the Sea , Amazon Studios became the first streaming media service to be nominated for
1815-666: A civil antitrust lawsuit against the Showtime-Movie Channel merger that was filed by the Justice Department on June 10, 1983. This culminated in Paramount and Universal being dropped from the partnership in the final revision submitted on July 28, 1983; Warner Communications, Viacom and Warner-Amex became the only partners remaining in the proposal, which a Justice Department memorandum cited would "prevent any anti-competitive effect [against other premium services wishing to enter
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#17328489094851980-486: A collection box. In April 1980, Paramount (then owned by Gulf+Western ), MCA / Universal Studios , Columbia Pictures and 20th Century Fox partnered with Getty Oil to jointly develop a pay cable service to be named Premiere. The proposed channel would have maintained exclusive first-run rights to newer feature films distributed by each of the studios (which would have aired nine months before their initial telecasts on other premium channels—up to four months shorter than
2145-521: A deal was reached, the two remaining partners would have become 50-50 partners in Epix. On March 9, 2017, Reuters reported that MGM was in discussions to buy out the interests in Epix held by Lionsgate and Viacom (the latter of which was pursuing avenues, including the sale of non-strategic assets, to pay down its $ 12 billion debt load, and concentrate on restructuring Paramount Pictures and the services of Viacom Media Networks). These discussions culminated in
2310-412: A first look on films the latter company intends to produce for theatrical and streaming releases, including a film adaptation of the musical Fun Home . In July 2024, the company announced the revival of United Artists after more than a decade of dormancy as a label, entering a multi-year partnership with Scott Stuber , former Chief of Film at Netflix and Vice Chairman at Universal Pictures . Under
2475-408: A formal deal announced on April 5, 2017, in which MGM, Viacom and Lionsgate announced that they had reached an agreement for MGM to acquire Paramount/Viacom and Lionsgate's combined 80.91% interests—totaling 49.76% and 31.15%, respectively—in Epix for $ 1.032 billion (a purchase price based on a total evaluation of $ 1.275 billion for the channel, factoring in $ 75 million in distribution fees among each of
2640-464: A free download. It contained a survey allowing Amazon to collect feedback to determine whether or not it was worthwhile to make the comic into a film. Amazon Studios had received more than 10,000 feature screenplay submissions as of September 2012 and 2,700 television pilots as of March 2013; 23 films and 26 television series were in active development as of March 2013. In late 2016, it reorganized its film division into Prime Movies. On July 27, 2017, it
2805-414: A full restaurant menu instead of general movie theater concessions such as popcorn or candy. In certain countries, there are also Bed Cinemas where the audience sits or lays in beds instead of chairs. 3D film is a system of presenting film images so that they appear to the viewer to be three-dimensional. Visitors usually borrow or keep special glasses to wear while watching the movie. Depending on
2970-460: A graveyard and ruins, formed an ideal location for his ghostraising spectacle. When it opened in 1838, The Royal Polytechnic Institution in London became a very popular and influential venue with all kinds of magic lantern shows as an important part of its program. At the main theatre, with 500 seats, lanternists would make good use of a battery of six large lanterns running on tracked tables to project
3135-403: A label under Amazon's existing content arm. It was unclear if Epix Now would continue to be sold separately from Prime Video , if Epix would continue to be sold a la carte through Apple TV Channels and The Roku Channel—which compete with Amazon's in-house Prime Video Channels platform—or if it will continue to maintain its film library sub-licensing agreements with Hulu and Paramount+ following
3300-504: A long-term carriage agreement with Comcast to offer Epix as a premium add-on for X1 video subscribers and users of its Xfinity Stream app; Epix began to be carried on Xfinity systems on June 13, 2019. Comcast later expanded availability of Epix to act as a premium replacement for Starz (which the provider removed as a premium add-on one week later on December 10) on most of its Xfinity TV video bundles effective December 4. On April 12, 2019, MGM reached an agreement with YouTube TV to offer
3465-590: A long-term distribution pact with HBO and Cinemax, Lions Gate Entertainment joined Paramount and MGM as Showtime's major film suppliers. Paramount's distribution contract with Showtime expired in January 2008, three years after the original Viacom corporate structure was split into two standalone companies within the National Amusements umbrella: a successor entity that adopted the Viacom name, which took over Paramount's operations and select other divisions including
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#17328489094853630-403: A memorandum to executives at CBS Corporation and Viacom, intending to open negotiations for the two companies to re-consolidate into a single entity that would have likely included CBS's Showtime Networks unit among its properties; however on December 12, National Amusements rescinded the merger proposal, citing disagreements over valuation estimates of Viacom and Les Moonves ' requests to maintain
3795-470: A monthly license fee of $ 1 to $ 1.50 per subscriber from prospective providers. Epix reached its first carriage agreement on July 28, 2009, when it signed a deal with Verizon FiOS . In contrast, that August, two months prior to the channel's launch, three major pay television providers—cable providers Comcast and Cablevision , and satellite provider DirecTV —each formally announced that they would not carry Epix. DirecTV said regarding its decision not to carry
3960-407: A package that offers both the channel's video on demand content in standard (150 titles at a time) and high definition (75 titles at a time), along with online streaming for $ 10 per month. On August 10, 2010, Netflix announced that it had reached an exclusive licensing deal with Epix, allowing subscribers of the streaming service to access movie titles released by Epix's content distributors to which
4125-465: A production development agreement to produce three original series—which would end up consisting of Dead Like Me , The L Word and the short-lived Barbershop: The Series —for Showtime between 2003 and 2007. (MGM had already produced some original programming for Showtime at the time of that deal, most notably The Outer Limits and Stargate SG-1 , both adaptations of MGM-owned science fiction franchises .) By 2002, after that studio finished
4290-417: A result, the customer geography area of multiplexes and megaplexes typically overlaps with smaller theaters, which face threat of having their audience siphoned by bigger theaters that cut a wider swath in the movie-going landscape. In most markets, nearly all single-screen theaters (sometimes referred to as a "Uniplex") have gone out of business; the ones remaining are generally used for arthouse films, e.g.
4455-409: A screen in front of the stage and adding a projector; this conversion may be permanent, or temporary for purposes such as showing arthouse fare to an audience accustomed to plays. The familiar characteristics of relatively low admission and open seating can be traced to Samuel Roxy Rothafel , an early movie theater impresario . Many of these early theaters contain a balcony , an elevated level across
4620-567: A system is used that requires inexpensive 3D glasses, they can sometimes be kept by the patron. Most theaters have a fixed cost for 3D, while others charge for the glasses, but the latter is uncommon (at least in the United States). For example, in Pathé theaters in the Netherlands the extra fee for watching a 3D film consists of a fixed fee of €1.50, and an optional fee of €1 for the glasses. Holders of
4785-507: A ten-figure deal with 87North Productions . In November 2022, it was announced that Jennifer Salke, in addition to Amazon Studios, will be given full control of MGM's film and television divisions, with Brearton stepping down as COO to become the Vice President of PVS Corporate Strategy for MGM+ and MGM Alternative Television. In December 2022, Intrepid Pictures signed a multi-year overall television deal with Amazon Studios. The studio
4950-414: A total of over 500,000 visitors, with programs including Pauvre Pierrot and Autour d'une cabine . Thomas Edison initially believed film screening would not be as viable commercially as presenting films in peep boxes, hence the film apparatus that his company would first exploit became the kinetoscope . A few public demonstrations occurred since 9 May 1893, before a first public Kinetoscope parlor
5115-413: Is also sold direct-to-consumer through a proprietary streaming service of the same name, and via a la carte subscriptions independent of a traditional pay television platform sold by Apple TV Channels , Amazon Channels and The Roku Channel . Each digital platform provides a library of video on demand content and live streams of the linear MGM+ television channels. (the standalone streaming service and
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5280-560: Is arguably the first cinema in the world. Claimants for the title of the earliest movie theatre include the Eden Theater in La Ciotat , where L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat was screened on 21 March 1899. The theatre closed in 1995 but re-opened in 2013. L'Idéal Cinéma in Aniche (France), built in 1901 as l'Hôtel du Syndicat CGT, showed its first film on 23 November 1905. The cinema
5445-478: Is available on MGMPlus.com, and also through apps for Android devices and Android TV , Apple iOS and Apple TV , Chromecast , Microsoft Xbox (both Xbox 360 and Xbox One ), the Roku streaming player, select Samsung Smart TV models, and Sony PlayStation consoles. VOD content from the network is also available on virtual MVPD services Sling TV , YouTube TV, Philo , and FuboTV through add-on subscriptions to
5610-618: Is credited by Canadian sources as the inventor of the multiplex or cineplex; he later founded the Cineplex Odeon Corporation , opening the 18-screen Toronto Eaton Centre Cineplex, the world's largest at the time, in Toronto, Ontario. In the United States, Stanley Durwood of American Multi-Cinema (now AMC Theatres ) is credited as pioneering the multiplex in 1963 after realizing that he could operate several attached auditoriums with
5775-458: Is increasing. The RealD company expects 15,000 screens worldwide in 2010. The availability of 3D movies encourages exhibitors to adopt digital cinema and provides a way for theaters to compete with home theaters . One incentive for theaters to show 3D films is that although ticket sales have declined, revenues from 3D tickets have grown. In the 2010s, 3D films became popular again. The IMAX 3D system and digital 3D systems are used (the latter
5940-497: Is mentioned in the 2010 Guinness World Records . The World's smallest solar-powered mobile cinema is Sol Cinema in the UK. Touring since 2010 the cinema is actually a converted 1972 caravan. It seats 8–10 at a time. In 2015 it featured in a Lenovo advert for the launch of a new tablet. The Bell Museum of Natural History in Minneapolis , Minnesota has recently begun summer "bike-ins", inviting only pedestrians or people on bicycles onto
6105-495: Is one of the largest employers in Culver City with roughly 2,700 staffing their headquarters and production facilities. In January 2023, Critical Role Productions signed a multi-year overall television and first-look film deal with Amazon Studios. In March 2023, it was announced in response to the decision to release Air into theaters worldwide instead of Prime Video, that Amazon had shut down United Artists Releasing and folded
6270-569: Is still inconvenient and disturbing to find and claim it during the commercials and trailers, unless it is near an aisle. Some movie theaters have some kind of break during the presentation, particularly for very long films. There may also be a break between the introductory material and the feature. Some countries such as the Netherlands have a tradition of incorporating an intermission in regular feature presentations, though many theaters have now abandoned that tradition, while in North America, this
6435-410: Is the best service that many people have never heard of. [...] Other than individual shows, the service has never been marketed. Now you have this incredibly powerful, loud name that means something to people. You could spend five years and $ 100 million trying to launch a new brand, and you wouldn't have the brand equity that you get with MGM. It's really something of a gift." Wright also said that adding
6600-516: Is the oldest known movie theater still in continuous operation. Traditionally a movie theater, like a stage theater , consists of a single auditorium with rows of comfortable padded seats, as well as a foyer area containing a box office for buying tickets. Movie theaters also often have a concession stand for buying snacks and drinks within the theater's lobby. Other features included are film posters , arcade games and washrooms. Stage theaters are sometimes converted into movie theaters by placing
6765-432: Is the only premium channel-streaming hybrid service that offers its associated service's full multiplex channel slate (by contrast, Showtime and Starz's OTT services provide only East/West feeds of the primary Showtime, Starz and Starz Encore channels, respectively; while Max doesn't offer live feeds of HBO and Cinemax.) The network maintains an online and mobile video-on-demand service (originally known as Epix HD ) that
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6930-474: Is used in the animated movies of Disney / Pixar ). The RealD 3D system works by using a single digital projector that swaps back and forth between the images for eyes. A filter is placed in front of the projector that changes the polarization of the light coming from the projector. A silver screen is used to reflect this light back at the audience and reduce loss of brightness. There are four other systems available: Volfoni, Master Image, XpanD and Dolby 3D . When
7095-773: Is usually called a " megaplex ". However, in the United Kingdom, this was a brand name for Virgin Cinema (later UGC). The first megaplex is generally considered to be the Kinepolis in Brussels, Belgium, which opened in 1988 with 25 screens and a seating capacity of 7,500. The first theater in the U.S. built from the ground up as a megaplex was the AMC Grand 24 in Dallas, Texas , which opened in May 1995, while
7260-424: Is very rare and usually limited to special circumstances involving extremely long movies. During the closing credits many people leave, but some stay until the end. Usually the lights are switched on after the credits, sometimes already during them. Some films show mid-credits scenes while the credits are rolling, which in comedy films are often bloopers and outtakes, or post-credits scenes , which typically set up
7425-624: The Looney Tunes and Mickey Mouse shorts were created for this purpose). Examples of this kind of programming are available on certain DVD releases of two of the most famous films starring Errol Flynn as a special feature arrangement designed to recreate that kind of filmgoing experience while the PBS series, Matinee at the Bijou , presented the equivalent content. Some theaters ran on continuous showings , where
7590-457: The 96th Academy Awards ; including Best Picture, and won the award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Movie theater A movie theater ( American English ) or cinema ( Commonwealth English ), also known as a movie house , cinema hall , picture house , picture theater , the pictures , or simply theater , is a business that contains auditoriums for viewing films for public entertainment. Most are commercial operations catering to
7755-779: The Academy Award for Best Picture ; the film was nominated for a total of six Academy Awards , winning two: Best Actor for Casey Affleck and Best Original Screenplay for Kenneth Lonergan . The film The Salesman (2016) won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film ; it was directed by Asghar Farhadi and distributed in the US by Amazon Studios. In 2018, the period comedy-drama television series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel , starring Rachel Brosnahan , won two Golden Globe Awards ( Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy and Best Actress – Musical or Comedy for Brosnahan) and five Primetime Emmy Awards , including Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Lead Actress in
7920-504: The COVID-19 pandemic and the streaming market's increasing dominance due to the closure of movie theaters during the brunt of the pandemic were cited as contributing factors in MGM's decision to sell. Expected to close in mid-2022, subject to regulatory approvals and other routine conditions of sale closure, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and its divisions would continue to operate under the new parent company as
8085-526: The Digital Cinema Package for the film. Control data is encoded in a monoaural WAV file on Sound Track channel 13, labelled as "Motion Data". Motion Data tracks are unencrypted and not watermarked. Movie theaters may be classified by the type of movies they show or when in a film's release process they are shown: Usually in the 2020s, an admission is for one feature film. Sometimes two feature films are sold as one admission ( double feature ), with
8250-676: The Latham family, was demonstrated for members of the press on 21 April 1895 and opened to the paying public on 20 May, in a lower Broadway store with films of the Griffo-Barnett prize boxing fight, taken from Madison Square Garden 's roof on 4 May. Max Skladanowsky and his brother Emil demonstrated their motion pictures with the Bioscop in July 1895 at the Gasthaus Sello in Pankow (Berlin). This venue
8415-463: The Ministry of Technology campaign to raise standards. Using a very futuristic look, these 27-seat cinema vehicles were designed to attract attention. They were built on a Bedford SB 3 chassis with a custom Coventry Steel Caravan extruded aluminum body. Movies are also commonly shown on airliners in flight, using large screens in each cabin or smaller screens for each group of rows or each individual seat;
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#17328489094858580-513: The Pathé Unlimited Gold pass (see also below) are supposed to bring along their own glasses; one pair, supplied yearly, more robust than the regular type, is included in the price. IMAX is a system using 70 mm film with more than ten times the frame size of a 35 mm film . IMAX theaters use an oversized screen as well as special projectors. The first permanent IMAX theater was at Ontario Place in Toronto, Canada. Until 2016, visitors to
8745-522: The PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita gaming devices, and—by way of an app released on November 7, 2013, through a distribution agreement that Studio 3 reached with Sony Corporation to release apps on its precessor consoles on January 3 of that year— PlayStation 4 . On June 2, 2014, Bright House Networks —which had its carriage agreements negotiated on their behalf by Time Warner Cable, prior to its November 2016 merger with Charter Communications—added
8910-792: The Telluride Film Festival on August 30, 2023, Sitting in Bars with Cake , which was released on Prime Video on September 8, 2023, and A Million Miles Away which was released on Prime Video on September 15, 2023, all 3 films were released through the MGM banner. On October 4, 2023, Pablo Iacoviello, the studio's director of monetization for local originals, announced at the TV forum Iberseries & Platino Industria in Madrid that Amazon Studios would merge with MGM Holdings and would be renamed to Amazon MGM Studios itself to reflect this. This would also result in
9075-588: The 1570s in the English language. Movie theatres stand in a long tradition of theaters that could house all kinds of entertainment. Some forms of theatrical entertainment would involve the screening of moving images and can be regarded as precursors of film . In 1799, Étienne-Gaspard "Robertson" Robert moved his Phantasmagorie show to an abandoned cloister near the Place Vendôme in Paris. The eerie surroundings, with
9240-489: The 1950s to the early 2000s from the libraries of MGM, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment and The Samuel Goldwyn Company/Samuel Goldwyn Films, which are presented uncut and without commercial interruption, as well as a limited schedule of acquired classic television series. Initially available exclusively to Xfinity subscribers, the channel was developed by Epix/MGM through an expansion of Epix's existing carriage agreement with Comcast that granted
9405-415: The 1950s—have up to thirty screens. The audience members often sit on padded seats, which in most theaters are set on a sloped floor, with the highest part at the rear of the theater. Movie theaters often sell soft drinks , popcorn and candy , and some theaters sell hot fast food . In some jurisdictions, movie theaters can be licensed to sell alcoholic drinks. A movie theater might also be referred to as
9570-405: The 1980s and the 2000s, and older theatrical films released between the 1930s and the 1980s). Live simulcasts of the four Epix linear channels were also available to subscribers, depending on platform or mode of access. MGM+ On Demand , a television video on demand service, is available to the channel's subscribers at no additional cost. It offers feature films from MGM+'s distribution partners and
9735-505: The 1980s the introduction of VHS cassettes made possible video-salons, small rooms where visitors viewed movies on a large TV. These establishments were especially popular in the Soviet Union , where official distribution companies were slow to adapt to changing demand, and so movie theaters could not show popular Hollywood and Asian films . In 1967, the British government launched seven custom-built mobile cinema units for use as part of
9900-465: The 30% share that would be held by the Showtime-TMC combination would have also formed an oligopoly in the pay cable market with HBO and Cinemax (which, even with the presence of smaller competitors at the time like Bravo and Home Theater Network , controlled the remaining 60% of the market). The proposal was revised twice to address these issues and others cited by HBO executives in responses to
10065-554: The 50% interest inherited by Group W Cable through its prior merger with TelePrompTer for $ 75 million in August 1982) into one unit. Four of the partners would respectively own 22.58% of both networks, with American Express owning the remaining 9.68%. As with the earlier Premiere proposal, the Justice Department subjected the proposal to regulatory scrutiny as Warner, Universal and Paramount received 50% of their respective total revenue from film releases and licensing fees from premium services;
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#173284890948510230-615: The Amazon Video channel provide feeds of all four MGM+ multiplex channels; Apple and Roku subscribers receive only the East Coast feed of the primary MGM+ channel.) Paramount Pictures has been involved in the pay television industry since the 1950s. From 1953 to 1961, Paramount owned Telemeter , an ambitious but expensive theater television system that transmitted using closed circuitry —as opposed to broadcast frequencies—over which customers could purchase broadcasts by inserting coins into
10395-460: The Crest Theatre in downtown Sacramento, California , small-scale productions, film festivals or other presentations. Because of the late development of multiplexes, the term "cinema" or "theater" may refer either to the whole complex or a single auditorium, and sometimes "screen" is used to refer to an auditorium. A popular film may be shown on multiple screens at the same multiplex, which reduces
10560-558: The Dark and Warner Bros. House of Wax , the first 3D feature with stereophonic sound. For many years, most 3D movies were shown in amusement parks and even "4D" techniques have been used when certain effects such as spraying of water, movement of seats, and other effects are used to simulate actions seen on the screen. The first decline in the theatrical 3D craze started in August and September 1953. In 2009, movie exhibitors became more interested in 3D film. The number of 3D screens in theaters
10725-728: The Eastern Time feed (as much as six hours between the Continental U.S. time zones), compared to competing premium services that typically package their main coastal feeds together. ScreenPix (stylized as S CREEN P IX ) is an American premium cable television network that is owned by MGMPlus Entertainment LLC, a subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Launched on December 12, 2019, as a spin-off of Epix, it primarily competes with similar companion services operated by HBO (Cinemax), Showtime (The Movie Channel and Flix) and Starz (Starz Encore and MoviePlex ). ScreenPix relies on movie classics from
10890-449: The Epix multiplex, with all four channels being offered to its subscribers in a three-month free preview upon its initial rollout. The following month on July 14, Epix signed a multi-platform distribution agreement with AT&T U-verse , in which the channel's content would be made available to subscribers through the website and apps of both Epix and U-verse, as well as on AT&T on Demand. On March 4, 2014, Time Warner Cable , one of
11055-700: The IMAX cinema attached to the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford , West Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom, could observe the IMAX projection booth via a glass rear wall and watch the large format films being loaded and projected. The largest permanent IMAX cinema screen measures 38.80 m × 21.00 m (127.30 ft × 68.90 ft) and was achieved by Traumplast Leonberg (Germany) in Leonberg, Germany , verified on 6 December 2022. IMAX also refers to
11220-502: The Old French word "theatre", from the 12th century and "...directly from Latin theatrum [which meant] 'play-house, theater; stage; spectators in a theater'", which in turn came from the Greek word "theatron", which meant "theater; the people in the theater; a show, a spectacle", [or] literally "place for viewing". The use of the word "theatre" to mean a "building where plays are shown" dates from
11385-558: The Pacific, Mountain , Alaska and Hawaii–Aleutian Time Zones . Because each opposite-region feed is confined mainly to local wireline providers within its corresponding region of service (usually delineated by the Mountain– Central Time Zone line), the difference in local airtimes for a particular movie or program shown on the main channel between two geographic locations is wider for subscribers of providers that only receive
11550-919: The Sony library deal encompasses MGM+'s three multiplex services, MGM+ Hits, MGM+ Marquee and MGM+ Drive-In, and was extended to include sister service ScreenPix upon its December 2019 debut. (Sony also maintained a pay television licensing agreement with Starz, from 2004 to 2021, for the studio's recent theatrical releases.). Since November 2020, the channel also carries sub-licensed library movie product from Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (including content from 20th Century Studios ), Warner Bros. Pictures (including content from New Line Cinema , Castle Rock Entertainment and Turner Entertainment , who owns pre-May 1986 MGM titles), and maintains VOD-exclusive rights to films distributed by Screen Media Films , Sonar Entertainment and Gravitas Ventures , and in February 2024 will handle
11715-536: The United Kingdom and France. In April 2018, Amazon Studios announced that they would no longer accept open submissions of screenplays to limit the filmmakers they work with to those whom the studio has established working relationships with and turn away up-and-comers from pitching their projects, deeming them as "unsolicited material" and "not notable and talented enough to work with them." In May 2021, Amazon (parent company of Amazon Studios) entered negotiations to acquire Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). On May 26, 2021, it
11880-408: The United States on April 1, 2010. Mediacom signed a carriage agreement with Epix on January 14, 2010. On April 19, 2010, Epix gained its first (and prior to 2015, only) national pay television distribution partner when Dish Network announced that it would immediately begin carrying the channel as part of its "PlatinumHD" package; Subsequently, Epix launched its first two multiplex channels on
12045-593: The airline company sometimes charges a fee for the headphones needed to hear the movie's sound. In a similar fashion, movies are sometimes also shown on trains, such as the Auto Train . The smallest purpose-built cinema is the Cabiria Cine-Cafe which measures 24 m (260 sq ft) and has a seating capacity of 18. It was built by Renata Carneiro Agostinho da Silva (Brazil) in Brasília DF, Brazil in 2008. It
12210-589: The audience for a sequel. MGM%2B MGM+ (formerly known as Epix ; pronounced epics and stylized as eᴘix ), is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by the MGMPlus Entertainment subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), which is itself a subsidiary of Amazon MGM Studios . The network's programming consists of recent and older theatrically released motion pictures , original television series , documentaries , and music and comedy specials . The service
12375-407: The audience sits upon chairs, blankets or even in hot tubs , and watch the movie on a temporary screen, or even the wall of a building. Colleges and universities have often sponsored movie screenings in lecture halls. The formats of these screenings include 35 mm, 16 mm, DVD , VHS, and even 70 mm in rare cases. Some alternative methods of showing movies have been popular in the past. In
12540-409: The auditorium above the theater's rearmost seats. The rearward main floor "loge" seats were sometimes larger, softer, and more widely spaced and sold for a higher price. In conventional low pitch viewing floors, the preferred seating arrangement is to use staggered rows. While a less efficient use of floor space this allows a somewhat improved sight line between the patrons seated in the next row toward
12705-434: The average period between a film's theatrical release and their entry into the pay television market), along with carrying films cherry-picked from other studios without any exclusivity. Displeased that the venture would likely give the four studios disproportionate control of the pay television marketplace, Home Box Office, Inc. (then owned by Time-Life ), Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment and Viacom / TelePrompTer —then
12870-425: The bandwidth constraints of these systems. The Epix television service officially launched at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on October 30, 2009 on Verizon FiOS systems, becoming the first U.S. premium cable channel (not counting multiplex services of existing pay services) to debut since Liberty Media and Tele-Communications, Inc. launched Starz 15 years earlier on February 1, 1994. The first program to air on
13035-585: The basic Epix online VOD service would include in its library upon the streaming service's official October 2010 launch. Epix's online offering includes over 3,000 titles for streaming , available to all subscribers through the network's apps and Epix.com; as a result, Epix offers a wider library of movies for streaming than the combined offerings by the streaming service of its premium network competitors. The network continues to expand its VOD selection through cable, satellite and telco operators; however, it does not include more than 150 to 200 titles per month due to
13200-721: The business plan and strategy, then partnered with the Lionsgate/MGM/Paramount consortium to build and launch the network. Greenberg served as the founding president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Epix, leading it from its creation in early 2008 through its acquisition by MGM, until he stepped down after a nine-year tenure in September 2017. The network would focus on both recent feature films from Paramount (specifically those released after 2008), MGM/United Artists and Lionsgate (consisting of films released by each studio from 2009 onward) as well as library content from each of
13365-575: The cable providers that initially declined to carry the channel, announced that it had reached an agreement with Viacom to begin carrying Epix and its multiplex channels effective March 18. On August 31, 2015, Epix announced that it had signed a multi-year nonexclusive licensing contract in which Hulu would obtain the partial streaming rights to its feature film content. As a consequence of this agreement, Netflix announced that it would not renew its licensing agreement with Epix; all films from Epix that were made available on Netflix's streaming queue through
13530-470: The car's stereo system. Because of their outdoor nature, drive-ins usually only operate seasonally, and after sunset. Drive-in movie theaters are mainly found in the United States, where they were especially popular in the 1950s and 1960s. Once numbering in the thousands, about 400 remain in the U.S. today. In some cases, multiplex or megaplex theaters were built on the sites of former drive-in theaters. Some outdoor movie theaters are just grassy areas where
13695-556: The channel holds television and primary streaming rights. Titles to which Netflix gained access became available on the service less than one month later on September 1, 2010, with some newer films being released on Netflix within 90 days of their premiere on the Epix television and streaming services. On December 31 of that year, Suddenlink Communications reached an agreement with Viacom to carry Epix as part of an overall extension of its agreement to carry channels (such as MTV, VH1, Comedy Central, Spike and Nickelodeon/ Nick at Nite ) that
13860-427: The channel in 2016.) Though Epix was first announced by Studio 3 Partners as strictly a premium service, it eventually began to seek distribution as a hybrid premium/digital basic channel, although its programming would be presented without editing for airtime or objectionable content and without commercial advertising (a structure similar to the distribution method of Starz Encore ). The channel also reportedly sought
14025-534: The channel was the film Iron Man , followed by the concert special Madonna Sticky & Sweet Tour: Live from Buenos Aires . Initially a single channel service, Epix was offered to subscribers of Verizon FiOS—which carried the channel for free during its debut weekend—for $ 9.99 per month (significantly less than the subscription rates of other premium channels, which normally range in price from $ 12.99 to $ 17.99 per month). Epix also provided customers—including those that were not Verizon FiOS subscribers—free previews of
14190-450: The channel: "We think there are enough [premium channels] out there already, we don't see the value of adding another movie channel." On August 28, 2009, Epix offered a free preview to Verizon FiOS subscribers, showing select films that would be offered by the channel upon its formal debut. During this preview, Epix added between five and seven movie selections every three days from the libraries of its three major studio backers, including
14355-436: The choice of other films but offers more choice of viewing times or a greater number of seats to accommodate patrons. Two or three screens may be created by dividing up an existing cinema (as Durwood did with his Roxy in 1964), but newly built multiplexes usually have at least six to eight screens, and often as many as twelve, fourteen, sixteen or even eighteen. Although definitions vary, a large multiplex with 20 or more screens
14520-437: The closure of the sale. The merger was finalized on March 17, 2022. On September 28, 2022, MGM announced Epix would rebrand as MGM+ on January 15, 2023, coinciding with the premiere of the third season of Godfather of Harlem . Epix president Michael Wright explained the move as synergizing the service with the parent company and helping to boost public attention to the network, saying: "We have felt for some time that this
14685-434: The dark. Since the advent of stadium theaters with stepped aisles, each step in the aisles may be outlined with small lights to prevent patrons from tripping in the darkened theater. In movie theaters, the auditorium may also have lights that go to a low level, when the movie is going to begin. Theaters often have booster seats for children and other people of short stature to place on the seats to allow them to sit higher, for
14850-499: The deal, Stuber will produce films under his newly formed production company for United Artists, with Stuber involved with all projects released by the freshly revived banner. In September 2024, it was announced that Amazon MGM and Prime Video would join the MPA as its seventh member starting October 1, the second non-studio to do so after Netflix in 2019; this would also mark a return to the MPA for MGM after it lost membership in 2005 following
15015-404: The descriptions in the table below.) MGM+ transmits time zone -based regional feeds of its primary channel that operate on both Eastern and Pacific Time Zone schedules, though its multiplex channels are programmed exclusively on an Eastern Time schedule. The Eastern Time Zone feed serves as the default version of the primary MGM+ channel available though the network's OTT subscription service;
15180-596: The distributor's operations into MGM, making Creed III the first film to be distributed by the latter studio itself under Amazon's ownership. Also in March, Joe Quesada signed an exclusive first-look deal with Amazon Studios, and the studio also signed a multi-year first-look film deal with Imagine Entertainment . In May 2023, Amazon Studios created Amazon MGM Studios Distribution, an international film and television distribution unit for Amazon and MGM projects. The distributor's first films were Saltburn , which premiered at
15345-473: The early 1950s with the release of the first color stereoscopic feature, Bwana Devil . The film starred Robert Stack , Barbara Britton and Nigel Bruce . James Mage was an early pioneer in the 3D craze. Using his 16 mm 3D Bolex system, he premiered his Triorama program in February 1953 with his four shorts: Sunday In Stereo , Indian Summer , American Life , and This is Bolex Stereo . 1953 saw two groundbreaking features in 3D: Columbia's Man in
15510-555: The expiration of Paramount's contract with HBO. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) signed an exclusive first-run premium cable rights agreement with Showtime in 1981, encompassing the studio's films and releases through its United Artists subsidiary; Showtime and MGM renewed this agreement in April 1985 (for ten years, initially split with HBO and Cinemax ), September 1993 (for six years, with an extension signed in March 1998), and in April 2000 (for nine years). The 2000 renewal deal also included
15675-415: The feature film. Advertised start times are usually for the entire program or session, not the feature itself; thus people who want to avoid commercials and trailers would opt to enter later. This is easiest and causes the least inconvenience when it is not crowded or one is not very choosy about where one wants to sit. If one has a ticket for a specific seat (see below) one is formally assured of that, but it
15840-598: The film The Stolen Child with 20th Century Studios . In July 2015, Amazon announced it had acquired Spike Lee 's new film, Chi-Raq , as its first Amazon Original Movie. In 2010 Amazon Studios started allowing people to submit screenplays, which Amazon Studios and its customers would vote on. The top scriptwriters were told that they would earn cash prizes. This was named as "the scientific studio" by Jeff Bezos . This program stopped eight years later as submitted scripts were of low quality. Amazon Studios also released its only comic-book series, Blackburn Burrow , in 2012 as
16005-400: The finely detailed images of extra large slides on the 648 square feet screen. The magic lantern was used to illustrate lectures, concerts, pantomimes and other forms of theatre. Popular magic lantern presentations included phantasmagoria, mechanical slides, Henry Langdon Childe 's dissolving views and his chromatrope. The earliest known public screening of projected stroboscopic animation
16170-547: The first decade of motion pictures, the demand for movies, the amount of new productions, and the average runtime of movies, kept increasing, and at some stage it was viable to have theaters that would no longer program live acts, but only movies. The first building built for the dedicated purpose of showing motion pictures was built to demonstrate The Phantoscope , a device created by Jenkins & Armat, as part of The Cotton State Exposition on September 25, 1895 in Atlanta, GA. This
16335-535: The first megaplex in the U.S.-based on an expansion of an existing facility was Studio 28 in Grand Rapids, Michigan , which reopened in November 1988 with 20 screens and a seating capacity of 6,000. A drive-in movie theater is an outdoor parking area with a screen—sometimes an inflatable screen —at one end and a projection booth at the other. Moviegoers drive into the parking spaces which are sometimes sloped upwards at
16500-712: The flagship service extended distribution on Xfinity channel bundles, with the launch of ScreenPix coinciding with the addition of its parent network's three multiplex channels to the Xfinity lineup. ScreenPix consists of a generalized primary channel and three thematic multiplex channels: MGM+' s over-the-top (OTT) subscription streaming service (formerly known as Epix Now ) is available online and through apps for Android tablets, phones and Android TV devices, Apple iOS and Apple TV devices, Roku and Amazon Fire TV . On February 22, 2018, Epix announced plans to launch an OTT streaming service to be sold directly to non-subscribers of
16665-1158: The former Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks systems that are now part of Charter Spectrum), Cox Communications, Dish Network, Mediacom, Sling TV, and Verizon FiOS. MGM+ currently has exclusive first-run agreements with two of the network's original corporate parents. As of April 2023 , films featured on the channel primarily include recent releases and film library content from namesake Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (along with content from subsidiary Orion Pictures , American International Pictures , United Artists , and library product from Amazon MGM Studios , The Samuel Goldwyn Company , Motion Picture Corporation of America and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment ) and Paramount Global -owned Paramount Pictures (along with film content from its subsidiaries Paramount Players , Paramount Animation , MTV Entertainment Studios , Comedy Central Films , BET Films and Nickelodeon Movies as well as library product from now-defunct units Paramount Vantage , Republic Pictures and Insurge Pictures .)—and formerly feature films from Lionsgate Studios , Samuel Goldwyn Films , and Roadside Attractions . (Lionsgate holds
16830-418: The four Epix linear channels as a premium add-on tier as well as provide access to Epix's VOD content to subscribers of the virtual multichannel video programming distributor (vMVPD) who receive the network. On May 5, 2019, Epix and AT&T announced that Epix would be added to DirecTV effective May 19, making the satellite provider the last major conventional American pay television provider to begin offering
16995-416: The four-channel multiplex being made available as part of the launch of its "Hollywood Extra" programming tier. (Sling currently offers all four Epix multiplex channels as a premium add-on for an extra fee, while Epix Drive-In is offered as a standalone channel available to all base subscribers of its Sling Orange and Sling Blue packages.) On April 29, 2010, Charter Communications began carrying Epix as
17160-409: The front to give a more direct view of the movie screen. Movies are usually viewed through the car windscreen (windshield) although some people prefer to sit on the bonnet (hood) of the car. Some may also sit in the trunk (back) of their car if space permits. Sound is either provided through portable loudspeakers located by each parking space, or is broadcast on an FM radio frequency, to be played through
17325-437: The general public, who attend by purchasing tickets . The film is projected with a movie projector onto a large projection screen at the front of the auditorium while the dialogue, sounds and music are played through a number of wall-mounted speakers. Since the 1970s, subwoofers have been used for low-pitched sounds. Since the 2010s, the majority of movie theaters have been equipped for digital cinema projection , removing
17490-501: The grounds for both live music and movies. In various Canadian cities, including Toronto , Calgary, Ottawa and Halifax , al-fresco movies projected on the walls of buildings or temporarily erected screens in parks operate during the Summer and cater to a pedestrian audience. The New Parkway Museum in Oakland, California replaces general seating with couches and coffee tables, as well as having
17655-423: The home of the cable television premiere of Paramount's Top Gun: Maverick . On the day of the rebrand's launch, That's Entertainment! , a 1974 film celebrating the history of the MGM musicals and a title from the pre-1986 MGM library owned by Warner Bros. , was added to the network's streaming platform following the use of Judy Garland 's recording of the title song in the rebrand's trailer. Depending on
17820-462: The linear Epix service, alongside plans for 4K HDR streaming for their films on its Apple TV app (becoming the first American television network to offer its streaming film content in the format). The service was officially launched on Apple iOS, Apple TV and Android devices on February 10, 2019; apps for Roku and Fire TV devices were launched on March 28, and for Android TV devices on May 31, 2019. MGM+ offers on-demand access to feature films from
17985-460: The linear MGM+ service; and its dedicated OTT video channels on Apple TV Channels, Amazon Video Channels and The Roku Channel. Except for subscribers of Hulu (which offers MGM+ as a VOD add-on without live feeds of the four-channel linear service), the streaming service requires a subscription to the linear channel through a participating television provider in order to access program content. Previously, Epix offered an on-demand streaming service to
18150-456: The long-term success of our business, while relentlessly focusing on what we know matters most to our customers," according to Mike Hopkins. In March 2024, beginning with the Prime Video release of the remake of Road House , Amazon MGM Studios kicked off the centennial anniversary celebration of the founding of MGM with a "100 Years" logo variant appearing on all films produced and released by
18315-442: The market] from arising," currying the department's formal approval of the proposal on August 13 (three weeks before it was finalized on September 6). Shortly afterward, Paramount signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Showtime, which had already maintained a licensing deal with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer that gave the service exclusive pay cable rights to MGM's films. Both of Showtime's tenures with Paramount ended in acrimony. In
18480-473: The media company owned through its MTV Networks division. On September 4, 2012, following the expiration of an exclusivity clause in the Netflix agreement that allowed Epix to license streaming rights to the channel's film titles to competing services, Epix entered into a three-year agreement with Amazon to provide film content on its Prime Video streaming service. Films appear on both Amazon and Netflix after
18645-946: The mid-2010s to refer to auditoriums with high-end amenities. PLF does not refer to a single format in general, but combinations of non-proprietary amenities such as larger "wall-to-wall" screens, 4K projectors, 7.1 and/or positional surround sound systems (including Dolby Atmos ), and higher-quality seating (such as leather recliners). Cinemas typically brand PLF auditoriums with chain-specific trademarks , such as "Prime" ( AMC ), "Grand Screen” ( B&B Theatres ), "BTX" ( Bow Tie ), "Superscreen" ( Cineworld ), "BigD" ( Carmike , now owned by AMC), "UltraAVX" ( Cineplex ), "Macro XE" ( Cinépolis ), "XD" ( Cinemark ), "BigPix" ( INOX ), "Laser Ultra" ( Kinepolis and Landmark Cinemas ), "RPX" ( Regal Cinemas ), "Superscreen DLX"/"Ultrascreen DLX" ( Marcus ), "Titan" ( Reading Cinemas ), "VueXtreme" ( Vue International ), and "X-land" ( Wanda Cinemas ). PLFs compete primarily with formats such as digital IMAX;
18810-463: The need to create and transport a physical film print on a heavy reel. A great variety of films are shown at cinemas, ranging from animated films to blockbusters to documentaries. The smallest movie theaters have a single viewing room with a single screen. In the 2010s, most movie theaters had multiple screens. The largest theater complexes, which are called multiplexes —a concept developed in Canada in
18975-518: The network to utilize the imaging of MGM following the buyout, as well as Amazon repositioning it as a sister service to Prime Video and Freevee . MGM+ is currently led by Michael Wright. Since he joined in November 2017, the network would expand its original program offerings (including Godfather of Harlem starring Forest Whitaker , Perpetual Grace, LTD starring Ben Kingsley and Jimmi Simpson , Deep State , unscripted series Unprotected Sets executive produced by Wanda Sykes and
19140-422: The network's TV Everywhere platforms, and OTT channels on Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video and Roku; and most satellite, virtual MVPD and national wireline IPTV providers (including DirecTV, Dish Network, Sling TV, YouTube TV and Verizon Fios). Except for AT&T U-verse, which transmits both coastal feeds in all of its markets, MGM+ largely geographically restricts distribution of its Pacific Time feed to providers in
19305-478: The network's content partners, a back catalog of episodes of current and former original series (with new episodes being made available for streaming on their original broadcast airdate on the main multiplex channel), documentaries produced for the service and through its third-party content partners, and stand-up comedy and music specials. The service also offers live streams of all four MGM+ multiplex channels, and offline viewing of app content via direct download. MGM+
19470-409: The network's original series, as well as original concert and stand-up comedy specials that were previously seen on the network. MGM+ On Demand's rotating program selection incorporates select new titles that are added each Friday, alongside existing program titles held over from the previous one to two weeks. It is available to MGM+ subscribers of, among other providers, Charter Communications (including
19635-766: The on-screen 2016 animated Amazon Studios logo designed by Monster Creative being retired, with all film productions going forward, as of September 2023, opening with the 2021 MGM Leo the Lion logo designed by Baked Studios. In December 2023, Amazon MGM Studios secured a deal with Games Workshop , the creator of Warhammer 40,000 , to adapt its characters and stories for film and television. The agreement, involving British actor Henry Cavill as an executive producer and actor, enables Amazon MGM to produce Warhammer 40,000 themed movies and TV shows. In January 2024, Amazon announced hundreds of layoffs across Amazon MGM Studios, Prime Video and Twitch in order to "prioritize our investments for
19800-417: The online service each weekend through the end of November 2009, permitting access to the website's film content using invite codes given on a first come, first served basis. Cox Communications reached a carriage deal with Epix on January 9, 2010, the linear channel's standard and high definition feeds, along with its video on demand and online streaming platforms, were added to Cox's systems throughout
19965-548: The original entity's basic cable channels (among them, MTV , VH1 , Nickelodeon and Comedy Central ), and CBS Corporation , which—among the few properties it kept from its pre-split entity—retained ownership of Showtime Networks; MGM and Lions Gate's respective contracts with Showtime subsequently expired at the end of that year. The formation of Epix was announced on April 21, 2008, after individual negotiations between Paramount Pictures, MGM, and Lionsgate with Showtime to renew their existing film output deals broke down; each of
20130-443: The partners). On May 11, 2017, MGM announced that it had completed its acquisition of Viacom and Lionsgate's 80.9% interest in Epix, giving it full control over the premium network. Under MGM control, Epix continued to expand its distribution to conventional pay television providers that originally declined to offer the channel, plugging much of the remaining gaps in its national distribution coverage. On November 28, 2017, MGM reached
20295-415: The partnership formally announced the launch of Epix at the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) Convention on January 27, 2009. Mark Greenberg—who previously served as a marketing executive at HBO, executive vice president of Showtime, and managing director of management and consulting firm MSCGI (whose clients included Blockbuster Entertainment , Comcast and Lionsgate)—created
20460-502: The popularity of such shows in France. The earliest public film screenings took place in existing (vaudeville) theatres and other venues that could be darkened and comfortably house an audience. Émile Reynaud screened his Pantomimes Lumineuses animated movies from 28 October 1892 to March 1900 at the Musée Grévin in Paris, with his Théâtre Optique system. He gave over 12,800 shows to
20625-521: The preceding agreement were removed when the contract expired at the end of September. The future of Epix was placed into question through transactions involving Paramount Pictures and Lionsgate during the latter half of 2016. On June 30, 2016, Lionsgate agreed to acquire Starz Inc. (the parent company of rival pay service Starz, and its sister networks Starz Encore and MoviePlex ) for $ 4.4 billion in cash and stock. Later that year, on September 29, 2016, National Amusements CEO Shari Redstone sent
20790-521: The premium cable premieres of the 2008 releases Iron Man , Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull , and Cloverfield . On September 25, 2009, the channel announced plans to launch an expanded online video on demand service—to be known as the "Epix MegaPlex"—that began offering a minimum of 3,000 film titles beginning in the summer of 2010, in comparison to the approximately 200 titles that
20955-405: The production of motion pictures or in a large private residence. The etymology of the term "movie theater" involves the term "movie", which is a "shortened form of moving picture in the cinematographic sense" that was first used in 1896 and "theater", which originated in the "...late 14c., [meaning an] open air place in ancient times for viewing spectacles and plays". The term "theater" comes from
21120-538: The public dubbed the "Epix MegaPlex". It was launched on October 29, 2009; one day before the launch of the linear channel. Content available on the platforms (as well as Epix Now and the television-based Epix on Demand services) include recent and older theatrically released films sourced from its content agreements for the linear television service, Epix original programs, and VOD-exclusive film content from third-party library distributors (consisting of independent films , acquired made-for-television movies released between
21285-602: The relative managerial autonomy that he then held as CEO of CBS Corporation, should he be installed to head the merged company. Moonves resigned from his position as CBS' CEO on September 9, 2018, due to sexual abuse allegations from former CBS Corporation employees; CBS and Viacom would later re-enter corporate reunification talks in 2018; seven months after CBS was reported to be in discussions to acquire Starz from Lionsgate, National Amusements ultimately re-merged Viacom and CBS Corporation on December 4, 2019, to form ViacomCBS , bringing Showtime and Paramount Pictures back under
21450-534: The respective owners of HBO , The Movie Channel and Showtime —proceeded to file an antitrust lawsuit against the studios with the U.S. Justice Department later that year. After reviewing the case, the Justice Department issued an injunction blocking Premiere's planned January 1, 1981, launch, deeming the venture to be an illegal boycott of the existing pay services that would subject them to possible financial damage if its presence resulted in price fixing of film titles. Paramount, MCA, Fox and Columbia decided to scrap
21615-420: The return of The Contender ). The flagship channel and its three multiplex channels (depending on the carriage of any of the latter services) are sold by most traditional multichannel video programming distributors either as premium services or as part of a la carte digital movie tiers as well as by over-the-top MVPDs Sling TV , DirecTV Stream , Philo , FuboTV and YouTube TV . The service
21780-454: The same 90-day delay period following their Epix debut. Since its inception, Epix was among the first subscription television services to institute TV Everywhere capabilities; it was the first premium network to make its films available for streaming (beginning with the network's launch in 2009, its films were available via Epix.com), and was the first premium network to make its program content available on Roku devices, Xbox consoles, and
21945-492: The same immediate corporate umbrella. At an investor's gathering in early January 2017, Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer implied that it would explore strategic options regarding its stake in Epix—including a possible sale that would allow it to focus on Starz, of which Lionsgate completed its purchase on December 8, 2016, Feltheimer stated that Epix "is very valuable and throwing off cash," and that Viacom and MGM would "realize
22110-554: The same items would repeat throughout the day, with patrons arriving and departing at any time rather than having distinct entrance and exit cycles. Newsreels gradually became obsolete by the 1960s with the rise of television news, and most material now shown prior to a feature film is of a commercial or promotional nature (which usually include " trailers ", which are advertisements for films and commercials for other consumer products or services). A typical modern theater presents commercial advertising shorts , then movie trailers, and then
22275-410: The same monthly rate of $ 5.99 as before. With the move, the service will also re-position to focus more on the network's original programming and the MGM film library, though it would continue to air recent releases from Paramount Pictures for the duration of their output agreement The network's promotional trailer for the rebrand included the Paramount film The Lost City , as well as promoting it as
22440-584: The same staff needed for one through careful management of the start times for each movie. Ward Parkway Center in Kansas City, Missouri had the first multiplex cinema in the United States. Since the 1960s, multiple-screen theaters have become the norm, and many existing venues have been retrofitted so that they have multiple auditoriums. A single foyer area is shared among them. In the 1970s, many large 1920s movie palaces were converted into multiple screen venues by dividing their large auditoriums, and sometimes even
22605-596: The satellite provider during the 2010 calendar year: Epix 2 debuted first on May 12, followed by the August 11 debut of The 3 From Epix (now Epix Hits), which mainly carried movies released from the 1970s to the present. Dish Network would expand its relationship with Epix on February 16, 2015, as part of a carriage renewal agreement which made all four Epix channels available to subscribers of its over-the-top television service Sling TV as an add-on premium service, along with access to Epix's on-demand film and original programming content; Sling added Epix on March 4, 2015, with
22770-472: The screen, provided they do not lean toward one another. " Stadium seating ", popular in modern multiplexes, actually dates back to the 1920s. The 1922 Princess Theatre in Honolulu, Hawaii featured "stadium seating", sharply raked rows of seats extending from in front of the screen back towards the ceiling. It gives patrons a clear sight line over the heads of those seated in front of them. Modern "stadium seating"
22935-414: The service provider, MGM+ provides up to five 24-hour multiplex channels—all of which are simulcast in both standard definition and high definition—as well as a subscription video-on-demand service (MGM+ on Demand). Distribution of the service's three multiplex channels—MGM+ Hits, MGM+ Marquee and MGM+ Drive-In—varies depending on the provider. (Provider availability of the multiplex channels is noted within
23100-453: The service. (The addition of the service to DirecTV's lineup had been expected since AT&T acquired it in 2015, as AT&T planned to unify the program lineups of its then two MVPD offerings). The agreement also stated that Epix would be available on companion vMVPD service DirecTV Now (since renamed DirecTV Stream ), which began offering the Epix multiplex on August 8, 2019. On June 7, 2019, through an agreement between MGM and Amazon, Epix
23265-399: The silver screen (formerly sometimes sheet ) and the big screen (contrasted with the smaller screen of a television set). Specific to North American term is the movies , while specific terms in the UK are the pictures , the flicks and for the facility itself the flea pit (or fleapit ). A screening room is a small theater, often a private one, such as for the use of those involved in
23430-447: The spring of 1989, Paramount struck an exclusive licensing agreement with HBO; subsequently that May, Paramount filed a lawsuit against Showtime Networks , its parent Viacom, and the corporate parent of both entities, National Amusements over Showtime's alleged refusal to pay a total of $ 88 million in fees for five films—all of which had underperformed in their theatrical release—to reduce the minimum liability for its 75-film package from
23595-414: The stage space, into smaller theaters. Because of their size, and amenities like plush seating and extensive food/beverage service, multiplexes and megaplexes draw from a larger geographic area than smaller theaters. As a rule of thumb, they pull audiences from an eight to 12-mile radius, versus a three to five-mile radius for smaller theaters (though the size of this radius depends on population density). As
23760-416: The studio throughout the year. In April 2024, Amazon MGM, in collaboration with Fandango at Home , Rotten Tomatoes and iTunes , offered customers a "100 Essential Movies" bundle of 100 films from the MGM library as part of the studio's centennial for a limited time. That same month, they signed a three-year first-look deal with Jake Gyllenhaal 's Nine Stories Productions banner, for which they will have
23925-444: The studio. Showtime regained first-run pay cable rights to Paramount's films through a seven-year distribution deal signed in May 1995, in a byproduct of Viacom's merger with Paramount Pictures parent Paramount Communications the year prior; this agreement gave the services of Showtime Networks—Showtime, The Movie Channel and Flix —exclusive rights to all films released by the studio from 1997 onward starting in January 1998, following
24090-433: The studios. Within weeks of its October 2009 launch, Epix signed exclusive first-run film content agreements with two additional studios: one with Samuel Goldwyn Films to broadcast a package of 20 recent and forthcoming theatrical movies from the studio, and another to carry a package of 22 recent and forthcoming feature films from independent film studio Roadside Attractions (of which Lions Gate Entertainment had acquired
24255-402: The system used, these are typically polarized glasses . Three-dimensional movies use two images channeled, respectively, to the right and left eyes to simulate depth by using 3D glasses with red and blue lenses (anaglyph), polarized (linear and circular), and other techniques. 3D glasses deliver the proper image to the proper eye and make the image appear to "pop-out" at the viewer and even follow
24420-528: The term cinema / ˈ s ɪ n ɪ m ə / , alternatively spelled and pronounced kinema / ˈ k ɪ n ɪ m ə / . The latter terms, as well as their derivative adjectives "cinematic" and "kinematic", ultimately derive from Greek κίνημα, κινήματος ( kinema , kinematos )—"movement, motion". In the countries where those terms are used, the word "theatre" is usually reserved for live performance venues. Colloquial expressions, mostly applied to motion pictures and motion picture theaters collectively, include
24585-532: The three studios disagreed with Showtime over the licensing fee rates for which they wanted Showtime to compensate them to allow future releases to air on the Showtime Networks services. In December 2008, the three studios—which named their jointly owned holding company for the channel, Studio 3 Partners (renamed Epix Entertainment LLC upon coming under the sole ownership of MGM)—selected the name Epix for their premium linear television and on-demand service;
24750-572: The use of common " off-the-shelf " components and an in-house brand removes the need to pay licensing fees to a third-party for a proprietary large format. Although the term is synonymous with exhibitor-specific brands, some PLFs are franchised. Dolby franchises Dolby Cinema , which is based on technologies such as Atmos and Dolby Vision . CJ CGV franchises the 4DX and ScreenX formats. In some theaters, seating can be dynamically moved via haptic motion technology called D-BOX . In digital cinema , D-BOX codes for motion control are stored in
24915-545: The value, which ever way we all decide is best for our companies." Financial analysts estimated that Epix would be valued between $ 1 billion and $ 2 billion (individually, Lionsgate's interest in the channel was valued at $ 458 million, MGM's interest was valued at around $ 277.7 million, and Viacom's interest was estimated to be worth around $ 739 million). On January 26, confidential sources with Studio 3 Partners confirmed to Reuters that Lionsgate had entered into discussions to sell its 31% stake in Epix to MGM and Paramount/Viacom; if
25080-494: The venture after the ruling was handed down. In August 1982, MCA/Universal and Gulf+Western reached an agreement with Warner Communications to each acquire 25% interests in The Movie Channel, a struggling pay service then-owned by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, a cable television venture of Warner and American Express , which would retain the remaining 25% share under the proposed collaborative venture. This proposal
25245-470: The viewer when he/she moves so viewers relatively see the same image. The earliest 3D movies were presented in the 1920s. There have been several prior "waves" of 3D movie distribution, most notably in the 1950s when they were promoted as a way to offer audiences something that they could not see at home on television. Still the process faded quickly and as yet has never been more than a periodic novelty in movie presentation. The "golden era" of 3D film began in
25410-594: The website states they no longer accept submissions. Amazon aimed to review submitted scripts within 90 days (although the process may be longer). If a project was chosen for development, the writer was paid $ 10,000. If a developed script was selected for distribution as a full-budget movie, the creator was paid $ 200,000; if it was selected for distribution as a full-budget series, the creator was paid $ 55,000 as well as "up to 5 percent of Amazon's net receipts from toy and t-shirt licensing, and other royalties and bonuses." In 2008, Amazon expanded into film production , producing
25575-492: Was added to Prime Video Channels as a premium add-on available to Prime Video subscribers. On June 16, 2020, MGM reached an agreement with Philo to offer the Epix linear channels (minus Epix Drive-In) as a premium add-on tier and VOD content offering to the vMVPD's subscribers. On December 11, 2020, MGM and FuboTV announced that Epix would be added to the latter vMVPD effective on that date. On May 26, 2021, Amazon announced its intent to acquire MGM Holdings for $ 8.45 billion;
25740-431: Was announced that the studio would be acquired by Amazon for $ 8.45 billion, subject to regulatory approval, continuing to operate as a label alongside Amazon Studios and Amazon Prime Video . Amazon will continue to partner with United Artists Releasing (MGM and Annapurna Pictures ' joint distribution venture), which will continue to operate and release MGM titles theatrically "on a case-by-case basis." In August 2021, it
25905-595: Was announced that, starting with the December 2017 release Wonder Wheel , Amazon Studios would be its own self-distributing company. Previously, Amazon Studios had relied on multiple external studios to distribute their projects. The company also acquired global TV rights to The Lord of the Rings for $ 250 million. However, Amazon still has external distribution clients outside of the United States, such as Elevation Pictures in Canada, as well as Warner Bros. and StudioCanal in
26070-631: Was closed in 1977 and the building was demolished in 1993. The "Centre Culturel Claude Berri" was built in 1995; it integrates a new movie theater (the Idéal Cinéma Jacques Tati). In the United States, many small and simple theaters were set up, usually in converted storefronts. They typically charged five cents for admission, and thus became known as nickelodeons . This type of theatre flourished from about 1905 to circa 1915. The Korsør Biograf Teater, in Korsør , Denmark, opened in August 1908 and
26235-470: Was driven by the studios wanting to increase revenue received from licensing their films to premium television services, and industry concerns that dominant premium service HBO would hold undue negotiating power for these rights through its acquisitions of film titles prior to their theatrical release. In January 1983, the proposal was amended to include Viacom International, which proposed to consolidate The Movie Channel and Showtime (of which Viacom had acquired
26400-634: Was later, at least since 1918, exploited as the full-time movie theatre Pankower Lichtspiele and between 1925 and 1994 as Tivoli. The first certain commercial screenings by the Skladanowsky brothers took place at the Wintergarten in Berlin from 1 to 31 November 1895. The first commercial, public screening of films made with Louis and Auguste Lumière 's Cinématographe took place in the basement of Salon Indien du Grand Café in Paris on 28 December 1895. During
26565-603: Was opened on 14 April 1894, by the Holland Bros. in New York City at 1155 Broadway, on the corner of 27th Street. This can be regarded as the first commercial motion picture house. The venue had ten machines, set up in parallel rows of five, each showing a different movie. For 25 cents a viewer could see all the films in either row; half a dollar gave access to the entire bill. The Eidoloscope , devised by Eugene Augustin Lauste for
26730-459: Was originally launched in the United States in October 2009 by a joint venture between MGM, Walt Disney , Lionsgate , and Paramount . After MGM acquired the stakes of the service's co-founders in late 2017, and following the March 2022 acquisition of MGM itself by Amazon , Epix announced in September that it would rebrand as MGM+ on January 15, 2023. It was the culmination of a gradual transition by
26895-523: Was presented by Austrian magician Ludwig Döbler on 15 January 1847 at the Josephstadt Theatre in Vienna , with his patented Phantaskop. The animated spectacle was part of a well-received show that sold out in several European cities during a tour that lasted until the spring of 1848. The famous Parisian entertainment venue Le Chat Noir opened in 1881 and is remembered for its shadow plays , renewing
27060-402: Was reported that Steven Prinz signed an overall TV deal and a first-look deal with the studio. In September 2021, it was reported that Brian Otaño had signed a deal with Amazon Studios. Also in September, Eddie Murphy had signed a first-look film deal with Amazon Studios. In January 2022, Westbrook signed a multi-year first-look deal with Amazon Studios. That same month, Amazon Studios signed
27225-504: Was utilized in IMAX theaters, which have very tall screens, beginning in the early 1970s. Rows of seats are divided by one or more aisles so that there are seldom more than 20 seats in a row. This allows easier access to seating, as the space between rows is very narrow. Depending on the angle of rake of the seats, the aisles have steps. In older theaters, aisle lights were often built into the end seats of each row to help patrons find their way in
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