157-442: A multiplex is a movie theater complex with multiple screens or auditoriums within a single complex. They are usually housed in a specially designed building. Sometimes, an existing venue undergoes a renovation where the existing auditoriums are split into smaller ones, or more auditoriums are added in an extension or expansion of the building. The largest of these complexes can sit thousands of people and are sometimes referred to as
314-415: 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
471-474: A dynamic pricing model for tickets for showings that occur after 4pm based on seat location. Seats located near the front of the theatre and select ADA seats will be priced less than other seats and will only be made available to members of the Stubs rewards program and seats in the middle of the theatre will be priced more than the other non-front row seats. In addition, AMC Stubs A-List members will be able to reserve
628-597: A megaplex . The difference between a multiplex and a megaplex is related to the number of screens, but the dividing line is not well-defined. Some say that 16 screens and stadium seating make a megaplex, while others say that at least 24 screens are required. Megaplex theaters may have stadium seating or normal seating, and may have other amenities often not found at smaller movie theaters; multiplex theatres often feature regular seating. The Kinepolis - Madrid Ciudad de la Imagen [ es ] megaplex in Spain, owned by
785-631: 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
942-513: A seating capacity of 6,000. Studio 28 closed in November 2008. By 1994, building of multiplexes with 14-24 screens with 2,500 to 3,500 seats was the norm. The expansion of multiplexes also concentrated the market with the top ten exhibitors controlling 47% of the nation's screens compared to 27% in 1986. The AMC Grand 24 opened in Dallas, Texas , on May 19, 1995, as the first 24-screen megaplex built from
1099-474: A "significant" number of upcoming blockbuster films as signs of optimism. Aron also confirmed that Wanda no longer had majority control, and the company would now "be governed like most other publicly traded companies with a wide array of shareholders". In June 2021, retail investors once again poured into AMC stock, propelling shares to an all-time high of $ 77.26 in another alleged short squeeze. Short sellers betting against AMC incurred losses of over $ 2.8B as
1256-655: A 0.002% stake with the SEC, largely confirming the end of their involvement in AMC. During its fourth-quarter earnings call in March 2021, the company reported that its revenue had fallen by 88% year-over-year. CEO Adam Aron stated that AMC was facing the "most challenging market conditions in the 100-year history of the company", but cited progress on COVID-19 vaccinations, decisions to allow cinemas in New York City and Los Angeles to re-open, and
1413-429: A U.S.-based subsidiary of Wanda Group issued a filing with the SEC, stating that it had converted its Class B common stock to Class A shares to permit their sale. While Wanda remained AMC's largest single shareholder, the conversion, as well as AMC's financing efforts taking its stake below 37%, effectively surrendered its majority control since Class A stock only provides one vote per-share. On May 21, 2021, Wanda filed
1570-551: A ballroom. In about 1915 two adjacent theatres in Moncton, New Brunswick , under the same ownership were converted to share a single entrance on Main Street. After patrons entered the door, there were separate ticket booths for each theatre, and different programs were shown. The arrangement was so unusual that it was featured by Robert Ripley in his Believe It or Not! comic strip. Before multiplexes, some cinemas did show different films at
1727-480: A bar service under the MacGuffins brand. These are primarily offered at AMC and AMC Dine-in locations, but some AMC Classic locations with liquor licenses offer their alcoholic beverages under this brand. Drinks can be ordered to be consumed in the bar and lounge area or taken into the theater. Some AMC Dine-in theaters have their MacGuffins set up as a full-service restaurant that can be accessed without having to pay for
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#17328580768611884-564: 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
2041-537: 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
2198-1107: A common box office. The main screen remained the Patricia Theatre and the Patricia Annex became known as the Little Patricia. In December 1947 Nat Taylor, the operator of the Elgin Theatre in Ottawa, Canada, opened a smaller second theater ("Little Elgin") next door to his first theater. It was not until 1957, however, that Taylor decided to run different movies in each theater, when he became annoyed at having to replace films that were still making money with new releases. Taylor opened dual-screen theaters in 1962 in Place Ville Marie in Montreal, Quebec , and at Yorkdale Plaza in Toronto, Ontario , in 1964. Also in late 1947, but in Havana, Cuba,
2355-586: A former eight-story Cadillac dealership building on Van Ness Avenue at O'Farrell Street. It opened on 10 July 1998, as the AMC 1000 Van Ness with 3,146 seats listed. The largest megaplex in the Southern Hemisphere is the 26-screen Marion MEGAPLEX in Adelaide , South Australia . The megaplex was originally a 30-screen megaplex branded as Greater Union but was modified to accommodate Gold Class and V-Max screens and
2512-414: 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
2669-460: 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
2826-486: A joint venture with United Artists Theaters and Cinema International Corporation (a partnership of Paramount Pictures and Universal Studios ) to run their combined cinemas in the UK, Ireland under the AMC name, however, AMC pulled out of the joint venture in December 1988, and sold their U.K. assets, including their 12 cinemas, to the new entity (later called United Cinemas International ) for $ 98 million and withdrew from
2983-460: A larger national movement to "grow retail spaces ever bigger." On December 13, 1996, AMC Ontario Mills 30, a 30-screen theater, opened in Ontario, California , and became the theater with the most screens in the world. This was eventually tied by other AMC 30-screen theaters. During the 1980s and 1990s, AMC Theatres was at the forefront of a massive boom in multiplex and megaplex construction across
3140-502: A legal fight with his brothers. The chain also had theaters in St. Joseph and Jefferson City, Missouri and Leavenworth and Topeka, Kansas . When Edward's son Stanley left the U.S. Air Force after World War II , he joined the company in 1945. He persuaded his father to build drive-in theaters in St. Joseph, Jefferson City, and Leavenworth. In 1947 they expanded further with the acquisition of
3297-399: A lot of other multiplexes are being set up, but so far none of them have surpassed Pathé ArenA's capacity. Multiplexes ( multicines ) are very popular in Spain and they can be found in or close to most cities, displacing the traditional single-screen theaters. Many middle-sized and large cities have several of them, and they are also common in malls . The average number of screens per theater
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#17328580768613454-491: A much harder time finding a broad theatrical audience in earlier eras, such as the 1999 hit Being John Malkovich . However, after the turn of the 21st century, as multiplex and megaplex owners came to realize they could screen large-budget blockbuster films all day by staggering showtimes across multiple screens, movie studios jumped onto the blockbuster bandwagon and shifted their film slates towards blockbuster films based on existing media franchises . On 17 September 1998,
3611-455: A nine-screen multiplex in the Duna plaza run by Village Roadshow and US owned InterCom, that both opened in November 1996. In India , the mushrooming of multiplexes started since the mid-1990s. Cinema chains such as PVR INOX , Mukta A2 Cinemas , Miraj Cinemas , Asian Cinemas , Cinepolis , MovieTime Cinemas , AGS Cinemas , MovieMAX, Rajhans Multiplex and Wave Cinemas operate multiplexes across
3768-410: A result of this hasty development process. Among the few that were able to avoid bankruptcy were AMC Theatres and Cinemark Theatres . The boom in new screens in the U.S. in the late 1990s and early 2000s led to multiple changes to Hollywood's distribution model. During the 1990s, American film studios experimented with distributing quirky indie films and art films to megaplexes which would have had
3925-417: 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.
4082-448: A result. AMC issued more shares during the surge, but warned potential investors against buying the shares "unless you are prepared to incur the risk of losing all or a substantial portion of your investment". The cinema chain operator said it believed current prices reflected "market and trading dynamics unrelated to our underlying business". In the year to date, shares in AMC had soared 2,421% – despite its cinemas being largely shut during
4239-409: 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
4396-579: A shorter theatrical window of 17 days before Universal could release their films via premium VOD, as well as revenue sharing on the premium VOD window. On August 20, 2020, AMC began the process of reopening selected locations in the United States where allowed under local health orders. In honor of the company's centennial year, AMC also offered a special 15-cent ticket promotion that day, promoted as "Movies in 2020 at 1920 Prices." The company aimed for at least two thirds of its locations to be open in time for
4553-462: A single calendar month. Manual adjustments would be made for purchases made within 30 calendar days from date of original purchase. As of March 29, 2012, AMC Stubs had 3.2 million members, which represents approximately 18% of AMC attendance during fiscal 2012. In July 2018, AMC Stubs was split into three programs that are currently still in-place: the free AMC Stubs Insider; the yearly fee-based AMC Stubs Premiere, which costs $ 15 annually and provides
4710-632: 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 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
4867-553: A small ten-theatre chain. With an interstate planned around Kansas City, Durwood looked to sites outside downtown and acquired two sites at a shopping center on Kansas City's Ward Parkway to build a 700-seat theater. As the sites could not be combined, they opened two theaters side-by-side as the Parkway Twin Theatre in 1963. This was the company's first foray into using the multiplex model. According to Variety , Stanley Durwood later claimed in 1962 that he "was standing in
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5024-567: 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
5181-414: 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
5338-553: Is Village Rentis , that features 18 mainstream screens, two comfort (special type of a mainstream screen, better seating and less auditorium), three RealD 3D screens and one summer screen. In total it features 21 screens. Hungary's first multiplex, the Corvin Budapest Film Palace, opened in September 1996 followed shortly after by Cineplex Odeon 's first overseas venture, the six-screen Cinpelex Odeon Polus Center, and
5495-560: 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
5652-562: 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
5809-458: 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
5966-521: Is listed on the New York Stock Exchange ; from 2012 to 2018, the Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group owned a majority stake in the company. Private equity firm Silver Lake Partners made a $ 600 million investment in AMC in September 2018, but the voting power of AMC shares was structured so that Wanda Group still controlled the majority of AMC's board of directors. Amid financial downturns caused by
6123-497: 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
6280-569: 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
6437-414: Is the largest movie theater chain in the world. Founded in 1920, AMC has the largest share of the U.S. theater market ahead of Regal Cinemas and Cinemark Theatres . After acquiring Odeon Cinemas , UCI Cinemas , and Carmike Cinemas in 2016, it became the largest movie theater chain in the world. It has 2,807 screens in 353 European theatres and 7,755 screens in 593 American theatres. The company
Multiplex (movie theater) - Misplaced Pages Continue
6594-516: 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
6751-474: 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
6908-725: 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
7065-424: 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
7222-624: 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
7379-501: The American Royal livestock and horse show, but the latter's producers sought an injunction, and the name was changed to American Multi-Cinema, Inc. Stanley began to apply military management and the insights of management science to revolutionize the movie theatre industry. As he later explained to Variety magazine, "We needed to define what our company was doing in the (exhibition) business. My dad wasn't that organized." It
7536-701: The COVID-19 lockdowns , in January 2021, Wanda's ownership was increasingly diluted due to new financing by AMC, as well as short squeezes that resulted in Silver Lake converting its $ 600 million debt holding to equity. In early-February 2021, Wanda converted its Class B shares to Class A shares , thus reducing its voting power to less than 50%. AMC Theatres was founded in 1920 by Maurice, William, Irvin, Edward, and Barney Dubinsky, sons of Russian Jewish immigrants Simon and Sarah Dubinsky. The Dubinsky brothers had been traveling
7693-526: 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
7850-723: 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
8007-463: 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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#17328580768618164-513: 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
8321-484: The "AmStar 14". This theatre is now the Studio Movie Grill Northwest Highway as of 2013. AMC has since opened many megaplexes with up to 30 screens, beginning with AMC Ontario Mills 30, which was billed by AMC in its advertising as the "world's largest theater" when it opened on December 13, 1996. Three months after AMC Ontario Mills 30 opened, Edwards Theaters opened their largest theater across
8478-427: The "twilight of his prolific career at AMC", began a transition from his traditional pattern of squeezing "as many screens as possible ... into small multiplexes" to building megaplexes which were truly gigantic in scale: a "new supersized movie house for a supersized nation". This coincided with the development of modern big-box stores and warehouse clubs in the United States, and in retrospect can be seen as part of
8635-588: 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
8792-469: The 18-screen Cineplex , co-founded by Nat Taylor in Toronto's Eaton Centre , became the world's largest multitheatre complex under one roof. It was expanded to 21 screens by at least 1981. In November 1988, Kinepolis Brussels , was opened by Kinepolis , the Belgian chain, with 25 screens and 7,600 seats, and is often credited as being the first "megaplex". Meanwhile, during the 1980s, an elderly Durwood, in
8949-504: The 18-screen UCI New York City Center multiplex was opened in Barra da Tijuca , Rio de Janeiro to become the largest in Brazil. Canada's largest movie theaters over the years have been located in Toronto . As mentioned above the 18- (later 21-) screen Cineplex was the movie theater with the most screens in the world until the late 1980s, but remained the largest movie theater in Canada until it
9106-547: The 1960s and 1970s are now regarded as relatively small by 21st century standards. According to Melnick and Fuchs, although Durwood was technically not the first person to build a multi-auditorium movie theater, he was "the man perhaps most responsible for driving the industry into 'splitsville'". In 1965 Martin's Westgate Cinemas became one of the first indoor two-screen theaters in Atlanta, Georgia. Located in East Point, Georgia , it
9263-418: 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 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
9420-505: 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
9577-544: The 400 jobs to move across the Kansas/Missouri border. After reaching a settlement with the state of Illinois regarding complaints from a disability rights organization in April 2012, AMC pledged to equip all of its theaters in the state with captioning and description services by 2014. The disability rights group had accused the company of only providing closed captioning or audio description systems at some of its locations in
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#17328580768619734-869: The AMC Arrábida 20 in Porto, Portugal . In January 2002, the 16-screen Great Northern theatre was opened in Manchester in the U.K., marking the chain's return to the UK market after 14 years. This was later supplemented by the opening of a 12-screen cinema on the Broadway Plaza site in Birmingham in October 2003. AMC Theatres sometimes serve a dual function; in addition to the regular cinema functions, they also cater to companies' business conferences that can make use of their projectors for displaying presentations. In 2004, AMC Theatres
9891-463: The AMC cinemas that were not part of the Loews Cineplex acquisition and therefore ticketed by MovieTickets.com , the website's surcharge was waived for MovieWatcher members. On April 1, 2011, AMC started a new rewards program known as AMC Stubs, which could be purchased for a fee of $ 12 for an entire year. For that initial fee, members would receive $ 5 on every $ 50 spent between the box office and
10048-559: The Belgian Kinepolis Group, is the largest movie theater in the world, with 25 screens and a seating capacity of 9,200, including one 996-seat auditorium. The question of who was the inventor of the multiplex is "one of the longest-running debates in movie theater history." In a 2004 book, Ross Melnick and Andreas Fuchs identified five leading candidates: James Edwards, Sumner Redstone , Stanley Durwood , Charles Porter, and Nat Taylor . In 1915, exhibitor Charles Porter opened
10205-460: 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
10362-607: 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
10519-513: The Duplex Theatre in Detroit, Michigan, the first known instance of a dual-auditorium movie theater. It had twin 750-seat auditoriums in a single building, sharing a common box office and entrance. The Duplex Theatre's history is poorly documented and it is unknown why Porter built his theater that way, though it was apparently a bit too advanced for its time. It closed in 1922 and was remodeled into
10676-456: The Duplex movie theater was built to share the vestibule and ancillary facilities with the previously existing Rex Cinema (open since 1938); they were both designed by the same architect, Luis Bonich. The programming was coordinated, so that one of them showed documentary and news reels. while the other was showing feature films. They were in use at least until the 1990s. In 1963 AMC Theatres opened
10833-495: 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
10990-406: The Liberty Theater in downtown Kansas City which they remodeled and renamed the Roxy. They won an antitrust suit to enable them to show first-run product at the Roxy and went on to acquire all of the downtown cinemas in Kansas City including The Empire Theater , the Capri Theatre , the Midland Theatre and the Paramount Theatre. In 1961, after Ed died, Stanley took control of Durwood Theatres,
11147-465: The Midwest performing melodramas and tent shows with actress Jeanne Eagels . They purchased the Regent Theatre on 12th Street between Walnut and Grand in downtown Kansas City, Missouri . Maurice, the oldest brother, died in 1929, and Barney left the company in 1936 after being injured in an auto accident. Edward, the youngest brother, eventually changed his last name to Durwood, and the company they formed eventually became known as Durwood Theatres, after
11304-502: 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
11461-570: The September 3 release of Tenet . The company upgraded its air filtration systems to four times the rates before the pandemic and installed electrostatic sprayers in the auditoriums. In October 2020, the company reported that its existing cash resources "would be largely depleted by the end of 2020 or early 2021." On January 26, 2021, AMC stated that it had raised $ 917 million in new funding, including $ 506 million in equity and new common shares, and commitments for $ 411 million in debt financing. The company stated that this new funding "should allow
11618-607: The UK market. In 1988, Kinepolis Brussels , the first megaplex in the world, with 25 screens and 7,600 seats, was opened by Kinepolis , the European chain. In 1995, AMC Theatres opened the first North American megaplex, the AMC Grand 24 in Dallas, Texas , a theater complex that could accommodate thousands. AMC continued to open other megaplex theaters, such as the AMC Hampton Towne Center 24 in Hampton, Virginia, and
11775-612: The UK was the ABC Cinema in Lothian Road , Edinburgh which opened 29 November 1969. The Regal Twins were converted in 1972 to a five screen complex (Studios 1 to 5) by Star Group, as the first five-cinema complex in Britain. In 1985, AMC Cinemas opened a ten-screen cinema at The Point in Milton Keynes . This was AMC's first multiplex outside of the United States and saw a turnaround in
11932-405: The United States through the end of 2026. Selected AMC locations offer premium screens and features for a higher ticket price, including premium large formats . AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. invested $ 20 million in virtual-reality arcades and productions: $ 10 million to virtual reality entertainment company Dreamscape Immersive and another $ 10 million in a content fund. AMC Theatres created
12089-885: The United States, only 10% of the 16,712 indoor movie theaters in 1981 had more than one screen, with 80% of the 10% only having two screens. The largest had 7 screens. In 1982, the 14-screen Cineplex in the Beverly Center mall in Los Angeles became the country's largest upon opening. The Beverly Center Cinemas closed in June 2010. Cineplex joined with Universal Studios to build an 18-screen multiplex in Universal City, California (now part of Universal CityWalk Hollywood ), which opened July 4, 1987. In December 1988, Studio 28 in Grand Rapids, Michigan , expanded from 12 to 20 screens with
12246-423: The United States. From 1988 to 2000, the number of screens in the United States exploded from roughly 23,000 to 37,000. By the end of 1997, the United States was home to 149 megaplexes with over 2,800 screens. The newer venues, especially the megaplexes, often wiped out smaller theaters and led to market consolidation. Aging single-screen movie palaces in congested downtown areas simply could not compete against
12403-593: 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
12560-473: The announcement of its "AMC Preferred Equity Units" after market close, a new preferred share class. The units were to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "APE," a nod to the individual investors who turned the company into a meme stock , who often refer to themselves as "apes". Over 516 million APE units were subsequently issued to AMC shareholders in a 1:1 special dividend, with
12717-503: The audience for a sequel. AMC Theatres AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. ( doing business as AMC Theatres , originally an abbreviation for American Multi-Cinema ; often referred to simply as AMC and known in some countries as AMC Cinemas or AMC Multi-Cinemas ) is an American movie theater chain founded in Kansas City, Missouri , and now headquartered in Leawood, Kansas . It
12874-407: 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
13031-409: 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
13188-470: 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
13345-645: The chain's busiest theater in the US, the AMC Empire 25 in New York City near Times Square . On December 13, 1996, AMC opened the Ontario Mills 30, a 30-screen theater in Ontario, California , which at the time was the largest multiplex in the world. AMC Theatres' megaplex theatres were a success overseas as well. In April 1996, they opened Canal City 13 in Fukuoka, Japan , which was followed on December 20, 1996, by
13502-436: 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
13659-669: The closure of all of its theaters due to the COVID-19 pandemic , in compliance with CDC guidance against any gathering of over ten people. AMC said this shutdown would last for at least six to twelve weeks. On March 25, 2020, AMC furloughed all of its 600 corporate employees, including CEO Adam Aron. All furloughed corporate AMC employees and associates retained active employment status, including all health benefits. On April 28, 2020, AMC announced they would no longer carry films from Universal Pictures after NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell commented in The Wall Street Journal that
13816-606: The company full circle. After that, some more were closed or sold to Empire Theatres . AMC exited Canada by closing the AMC Interchange 30 in 2014. France's largest movie theaters are: 27-screen UGC Ciné Cité Les Halles (3,913 seats) in Paris , 23-screen Kinépolis - Château du Cinéma in Lomme (7,286 seats), 22-screen UGC Ciné Cité Strasbourg (5,275 seats) and 20-screen MK2 Bibliothèque in Paris (3,500 seats). Greece' s largest multiplex
13973-439: The company is above 30%) that, even after reducing its ownership of AMC common stock to just under 50% by the end of 2019, Wanda Group continued to retain majority control over AMC's board of directors. In October 2019, AMC began to offer on-demand rentals and purchases of digital film releases under the banner AMC Theatres On Demand. The service is tied to the company's Stubs loyalty program. On March 18, 2020, AMC announced
14130-680: The company to make it through this dark coronavirus-impacted winter". The next day, as part of a wider series of short squeezes coordinated by the Reddit community r/wallstreetbets (which primarily targeted video game retailer GameStop ), AMC experienced a major, 300% surge in its share price to a peak of $ 20.36. The surge triggered Silver Lake Partners' convertible bonds ; on January 28, it reached an agreement to convert $ 600 million of its debt holdings in AMC to equity at $ 13.51 per-share. Mudrick Capital Management made nearly $ 200 million in profit off its holdings of AMC debt. On February 5, 2021,
14287-415: The company's management to withdraw from such an offering on May 3, 2007. The company filed for a $ 450 million IPO in its third such filing since 2006 on July 14, 2010. Stanley Durwood died in 1999, and his successor was Peter Brown, the first non-Dubinsky/Durwood family member to head the company. Gerardo I. Lopez succeeded Brown as president and CEO of AMC Theatres on March 2, 2009. Previously, Lopez
14444-572: The concession stand at any AMC theater nationwide. AMC Stubs members also received a free size upgrade with every popcorn and drink they purchase (for example, an AMC Stubs member can get a large popcorn for the price of a regular). Other perks include birthday gifts and waived ticketing fees for online ticketing sites such as MovieTickets.com and Fandango and also online ticket purchases through AMC's own website and mobile app. Receipts or ticket stubs were required for manual adjustments. No more than four manual adjustments would be allowed per account in
14601-604: The country also reduced the importance of London from a revenue standpoint. Non-multiplex cinemas are now rare in the UK. In July 2000, Star City, Birmingham opened with a 30-screen Warner Village Cinemas (now a 25-screen Vue Cinemas with 5,079 seats), at the time the largest cinema in Europe. The first triplex in the United States was created with the addition of a third screen to the Cheri theater in Boston in June 1967 owned by Ben Sack. In
14758-650: The country. The largest multiplex in India is the 16-screen multiplex Mayajaal in Chennai . The first multiplex in Japan was built by Warner Bros. in 1993 but the multiplexes were outside Japan's nine largest cities until Shochiku built Cinema World to the west of Tokyo in 1995. By 2000, multiplexes accounted for 44% of the market with the number of screens in Japan increasing rapidly from less than 2,000 in 1998 to nearly 3,000 in 2001. The expansion in screens and multiplexes also reduced
14915-434: 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
15072-660: The decline of the UK cinema industry. Cannon followed it with an eight-screen cinema in Salford Quays in 1986. The success of the cinema at Milton Keynes led to further expansion by AMC in the UK to the MetroCentre in Gateshead and then to Dudley, Telford, Warrington and by royal appointment to London, before it eventually sold its UK division to a joint venture which it had formed with United Artists and Cinema International Corporation , which later became UCI Cinemas in 1989. By
15229-524: 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
15386-403: The end of 1992, the 5 major exhibitors (UCI, MGM , Warner , National Amusements and Odeon Cinemas ) had built 525 multiplex screens in the last eight years in the UK, with cinema admissions increasing from an all-time low of 54 million in 1984 to over 100 million. The increase in multiplexes led to 77% of the UK's screens being owned by the 5 major exhibitors. The increase in multiplexes around
15543-525: The end of the year. This cost reduction would be accomplished by reducing operating hours, cutting staffing levels, and other measures. In September 2018, Silver Lake Partners made a $ 600 million investment in AMC Theatres, whose proceeds were used to repurchase approximately 32% of Wanda Group's class B common stock . However, the voting power of AMC's shares is structured in such a way (granting three votes per-share for each Class B share if its stake in
15700-521: The expensive middle seats at no additional charge. In July 2023 AMC chose to abandon dynamic pricing after testing showed that customers were still not likely to choose front-row seats despite their lower prices, with most customers still sitting in the middle of the theatre or other non-front seats despite the upcharge. This made AMC believe that this made their prices less competitive as competitors did not also adapt dynamic pricing. The company also stated that it would test seats that recline further back in
15857-415: 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
16014-400: 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
16171-497: 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
16328-430: 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
16485-498: The front rows that would potentially allow better views. On July 31, the company reported their highest single-week admissions revenue in company history due to the Barbenheimer craze. On September 6, AMC announced that it had planned to sell up 40 million shares. AMC patented cup holder armrests in 1981. AMC also introduced stadium-style seating. The seats are placed on risers so that each person has an unobstructed view of
16642-409: 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
16799-556: The ground up in the United States and the largest theater complex in the U.S. A 21-screen Edwards Theater opened at the Irvine Spectrum Center in Irvine, California , the same year. After a lease renewal dispute with the property owner, the AMC Grand 24 closed in November 2010. The building has been divided and reopened in 2012 as a Toby Keith –owned nightclub and a 14-screen first-run movie theater operated by Southern Theatres as
16956-501: 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
17113-776: The lobby of his 600-seat Roxy in Kansas City mulling over its poor grosses, when he realized he could double his box office by adding a second screen and still operate with the same size staff." Following the success of the Parkway Twin, AMC followed up with the Embassy 3 triplex at the Country Club Plaza ; the Metro Plaza, a four-screen theater in Kansas City in 1966; and a six-screen theater in Omaha in 1969. The industry quickly embraced
17270-946: 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;
17427-467: The multiplex concept, where additional screens meant very little difference in staff and operating costs but resulted in a significant profit increase. The concept also provided more film choices at one location, drawing bigger crowds. It also gave owners the flexibility to show big hits on more screens and less reliance on any individual film that could turn out to be a bust. Stanley renamed Durwood Theatres as American Royal Cinema on October 1, 1968, after
17584-431: The new suburban megaplexes with their profusion of convenient choices (in terms of films and showtimes), gigantic screens, stadium seating, armrest cup holders, video arcades, spacious parking lots, and state-of-the-art projection and surround sound technology. In some areas, "megaplexes became not just another option for moviegoers, but soon the only one, having driven all other theaters out of business". From 1995 to 2004,
17741-403: The now-defunct MovieWatcher program that rewarded frequent movie-goers similar to other rewards programs but featured innovative aspects. It was based on a points-per-movie-ticket-purchased system, with rewards varying from concessions to movie passes based on point-based level. However, points were limited to a maximum of four points per three-hour time period, which was equal to two tickets. For
17898-443: The pandemic. In August 2021, the company revealed plans to begin accepting cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin for purchases in the future, which it did in November 2021 for online purchases via PayPal . In April 2022, AMC added integration with BitPay as a payment provider to its mobile app, allowing customers to use crypto payments such as Dogecoin and Shiba Inu . On August 4, 2022, AMC took Wall Street by surprise with
18055-434: The pictures , or simply theater , is a business that contains auditoriums for viewing films for public entertainment. Most are commercial operations catering to 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
18212-502: 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
18369-414: The problem with stadium-size movie theaters is that they share the same flawed business model as stadiums : high fixed operating costs, combined with the fact that very few films in any given year can actually fill all those seats. Average occupancy is around 10-15%—meaning that the majority of films are being shown to empty seats. Nearly all major U.S. movie theater companies ultimately went bankrupt as
18526-405: 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
18683-566: The reliance on the grosses from the nine key cities, with over half of a film's Japanese gross now coming from outside those markets. In the Netherlands there weren't many multiplexes until the millennial change. In April 2000 Pathé ArenA opened its doors in the ArenAPoort area in Amsterdam . It is the largest multiplex in the Netherlands and features 14 screens and 3250 seats in total. Nowadays
18840-585: The same benefits as the original Stubs plus an expedited line at tickets and concessions; and the monthly fee-based AMC Stubs A-List, which includes up to 3 movie tickets a week to any film in any format for $ 19.95 to $ 23.95 a month, depending on the state the member plans to watch movies in. Discount Tuesdays is another feature every Tuesday for members to purchase tickets typically for just $ 6 to any film in most locations, with occasional exclusions, plus surcharges for premium formats such as 3D, IMAX, and Dolby Cinema, as well as special events. Some AMC locations have
18997-543: The same feature movie, one would also offer a double bill . It did not convert to showing different movies on both screens until some time after Nat Taylor (see below). On February 25, 1940, the Patricia Theater in Aiken, South Carolina made news by becoming what is believed to be the first two-screen theater in the United States showing different movies when operator H. Bert Ram added a screen to an adjoining building and shared
19154-459: The same film. In 1965, the first triplex was opened in Burnaby , Canada by Taylor Twentieth Century Theaters. AMC followed up on the Parkway Twin with a four-screen theater in Kansas City, the Metro Plaza, in 1966 and a six-screen theater in 1969. Durwood's insight was that one box office and one concession stand could easily serve two (or more) attached auditoriums. Another AMC innovation was to offset
19311-554: 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
19468-530: 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
19625-614: The same time in one auditorium, such as in Cairo , Egypt, reported in 1926. In 1930, the Regal Twins in Manchester , England became the world's first multiplex followed by Studio 1 and 2 in Oxford Street in London in 1936. In 1937 James Edwards twinned his Alhambra Theater in the Los Angeles area by converting an adjacent storefront into a second "annex" screen. While both screens would show
19782-472: 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"
19939-707: The screen. In 1995, they introduced "Love Seat" style seating with retractable armrests so that there can be no barrier between two seats. In July 1994, AMC signed an agreement with Sony to begin installing SDDS (Sony Dynamic Digital Sound) in auditoriums, and began upgrading selected older auditoriums in 2003. On March 26, 2009, AMC announced an agreement to convert 1,500 existing auditoriums to fully digital 3D screens using RealD technology. On March 30, 2009, they announced they would convert all 4,500 screens in their chain to 4K digital projectors provided by Sony. In April 2022, AMC also announced an agreement with Cinionic to install laser projectors at 3,500 of its screens in
20096-477: The second quarter of 2009 and completing in 2012. The company was formerly headquartered in downtown Kansas City. In September 2011, AMC Theatres announced plans to move its headquarters to a new $ 30 million four-story building designed by 360 Architecture in the Park Place development at 117th Street and Nall Avenue in Leawood, Kansas in suburban Kansas City . Kansas had offered $ 47 million in incentives to get
20253-399: 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
20410-414: 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
20567-407: The starting times of films, so that staff members who previously had downtime while films were playing at a single-auditorium theater would now be kept continuously busy servicing other auditoriums. Over the next two decades, AMC Theatres under Durwood's leadership continued to innovate as it built one multiplex after another with more screens across the United States, though its early multiplexes from
20724-852: The state. In May 2012, AMC Theatres was acquired by Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group , headquartered in Dalian , who paid $ 2.6 billion to acquire AMC's 5,048 screens in 347 theaters in the U.S. and Canada. The deal was finalized on September 4, 2012. The acquisition made Wanda the world's largest cinema chain. Wang Jianlin , CEO of Dalian Wanda Group, announced that the company would plan to spend $ 500 million renovating AMC locations. AMC Theatres had eight movie theatres in Canada. In July 2012, four locations were sold to Cineplex Entertainment , and two more locations were sold to Empire Theatres and later acquired by Landmark Cinemas . The two remaining locations have since closed. Gerardo I. Lopez announced his resignation as CEO of AMC in August 2015. Craig Ramsey
20881-673: The street with 22 screens, the Edwards Ontario Palace 22. If the two adjacent parking lots were counted as one, this meant the city of Ontario, California had 52 screens on one parking lot, more than anywhere else in the United States. The construction of these two adjacent megaplexes in the Inland Empire was the culmination of a "bitter lifelong rivalry" between the elderly chief executives of these two leading movie theater operators: AMC's Stanley Durwood (who died in 1999) and Edwards Theaters's James Edwards (who died in 1997). Edwards
21038-567: The studio wanted to release films via premium video-on-demand simultaneously with theatrical releases. The company threatened that this will also be done with any other studio "who unilaterally abandons current windowing practices absent good faith negotiations between us, so that they as distributor and we as exhibitor both benefit and neither are hurt from such changes." On June 3, 2020, AMC stated that it had "substantial doubt" that it would remain in business. On July 28, 2020, AMC and Universal were able to resolve their dispute, with AMC agreeing to
21195-402: 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
21352-528: 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
21509-404: The total number of theaters in the United States fell from 7,151 to 5,629. Multiplexes and megaplexes supposedly have two major advantages over traditional single-screen movie theaters: they can share common infrastructure and staff across multiple auditoriums, and variations in auditorium size enable them to better match capacity to demand. However, movie theater operators eventually discovered
21666-616: The two-screen Parkway Twin at the Ward Parkway Shopping Center in Kansas City , a concept which company president Stanley Durwood later claimed to have come up with in 1962, realizing he could double the revenue of a single theater "by adding a second screen and still operate with the same size staff". Also, the shopping center structure where the Parkway was located could not support a large theater, so two small theaters were built to avoid that issue, and at first both theaters played
21823-452: The units wielding similar economic properties as common shares. AMC stock gained 19% to $ 22.18 at the close on Friday after initially falling following the announcement of the new units on Thursday. The preferred shares started trading under the "APE" ticker on the New York Stock Exchange starting Aug. 22. AMC CEO Adam Aron stated "We are making great strides on our path towards pandemic recovery". In February 2023 AMC announced plans to test
21980-572: 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
22137-470: 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
22294-544: The world's largest cinema multiplex, Kinepolis Madrid , opened in Spain, with 25 screens and 9,200 seats, each seating between 211 and 996 people. Europes's tallest cinema multiplex is the Cineworld Glasgow Renfrew Street in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom at 203 feet. Opened in 2001, it has 18 screens and seats 4,300 people. CGV Cinemas San Francisco 14, is a 14-auditorium movie theater multiplex in
22451-459: Was 5.2 in 2016. The Kinepolis - Madrid Ciudad de la Imagen megaplex has been the largest movie theater in the world since 1998, with 25 screens and a seating capacity of 9,200 including a 996-seat auditorium. Kinepolis- Valencia , built in 2001, boasts 24 screens and 8,000 seats. As noted above, the world's first multiplex, the Regal Twins , opened in Manchester in 1930. The first triplex in
22608-455: Was acquired by Marquee Holdings Inc., an investment vehicle controlled by affiliates of J.P. Morgan Partners, LLC , the private equity arm of JPMorgan Chase , and Apollo Global Management , a private investment firm. At the time, AMC was publicly traded on AMEX under the code AEN. In 2006, the company announced a new initial public offering (IPO) expected to be worth approximately $ 789 million; however, adverse market conditions convinced
22765-458: Was appointed as the interim CEO by the company board. In December 2015, AMC announced that Adam Aron would be the company's president and chief executive officer, as well as a member of the company's board of directors, beginning on January 4, 2016. In March 2016, AMC Theatres announced it would acquire competitor Carmike Cinemas . In July 2016, Carmike's management accepted a revised offer, pending regulatory and shareholder approval. The deal
22922-472: Was closed at the turn of the 21st century. In 1998, AMC expanded to Canada, building large movie theatres with as many as 24 screens before opening a 30-plex there in 1999, which is the AMC Interchange 30. Then in 2008, the 24-screen AMC Yonge Dundas 24, adjacent to the Eaton Centre, was completed. Cineplex Entertainment purchased the theater in 2012, along with several other Canadian AMC megaplexes, bringing
23079-631: 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
23236-510: Was closed on December 25, 2016, making AMC the largest cinema chain in the United States. On March 1, 2017, AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron stated that the company would rebrand Carmike Cinemas locations under the AMC name; smaller locations were rebranded under the new banner AMC Classic (which repurposes trademarks associated with Carmike). Aron also announced a plan to rebrand its kitchen-equipped theaters as AMC Dine-In. In July 2017, AMC Theatres announced they would cut $ 30 million in expenses by
23393-460: Was furious when he learned that Durwood had beaten him to a deal with Ontario Mills, and later told him, "I had to teach you a lesson". By 2004, only 25% of movie theaters in the United States had one screen and there were over 500 multiplexes with more than 16 screens. Movie theater A movie theater ( American English ) or cinema ( Commonwealth English ), also known as a movie house , cinema hall , picture house , picture theater ,
23550-463: Was later converted into a three-screen venue after a fire partially destroyed one of the theaters. The Disney family film Those Calloways had its world premiere at the Westgate, the only film to have been so honored at that theater. In 1973, Sumner Redstone, as the head of National Amusements , was the first film exhibitor to trademark and regularly use the term "multiplex." Opening in April 1979,
23707-634: 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
23864-547: 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
24021-523: 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
24178-564: Was re-branded as Event Cinemas . The auditoriums sit on top of Westfield Marion , which is the largest shopping complex in Adelaide. Kinepolis Brussels, the first cinema to carry the Kinepolis brand, was the biggest and a pioneer in the megaplex industry when it opened in 1988. It introduced various innovations in visual, audio and conceptual aspects of cinema, such as hosting guests and special events. It now has 28 screens and 6270 seats. In 1999,
24335-542: Was structured under the belief that every customer was a "guest". By the 1980s, the company was experiencing strong growth; in 1983, it had its initial public offering . AMC Theatres built its first multiplex overseas in 1985, the 10-screen multiplex at The Point, Milton Keynes in the United Kingdom , and later opened additional sites in the UK such as in Dudley and Tamworth, Staffordshire . In October 1988, they announced
24492-553: Was the Executive Vice President of President Consumer Products Group, Seattle's Best Coffee , and Foodservice at Starbucks . Under new leadership, one of the first major announcements came in March of the same year; the company announced that it would equip 1,500 of its screens with Real D projectors. In the same month, AMC Theatres announced it had closed on a $ 315 million deal with Sony to replace all of its reel projectors with digital cinema projectors, starting in
24649-504: 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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