159-398: Village Cinemas is an Australian-based multinational film exhibition brand that mainly shows blockbusters , mainstream, children and family films and some arthouse , foreign language and documentary films. Since 2003, its Australian sites became a joint venture between Village Roadshow and Amalgamated Holdings , forming Australian Theatres . Previous to this, Village Cinemas was
318-415: 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
477-603: A licensed lounge bar and café. Some Europa auditoriums are upholstered in blue, as opposed to red in the regular/traditional auditoriums. Village Cinemas' Albury affiliate, Regent Cinemas, operates a similar brand called, Showcase Cinema which is also upholstered in blue. However, since 2010, Village has scaled back the Cinema Europa brand and stopped staffing and promoting the screens at Jam Factory , Doncaster and Karingal although some of these locations are still screening Europa-type films. In Melbourne, Rivoli Cinemas
636-603: 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
795-412: 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 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
954-651: 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
1113-524: 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
1272-409: A September 2012 opening, however (as of October 2013), obtaining information on its current operations have been unsuccessful thus far. In September 2010, the company sold its majority stake in the six-theatre Village Roadshow Gold Class Cinemas LLC (Gold Class USA) to iPic Entertainment's new subsidiary, iPic-Gold Class Entertainment LLC, with Village retaining a 30% interest. Village Roadshow released
1431-562: 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
1590-573: 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
1749-537: 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
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#17327653538671908-483: A choice of screenings in a single building, some containing up to 20 screens. Village Roadshow became a pioneer in building and converting its existing single or 'twin' screen cinemas into the multiplex concept, investing in new sound and projection technologies and introducing new features, such as stadium-style seating. By this change in business operations, Village Roadshow and their competitor cinema operators were able to attract audiences back into their theatres and were
2067-1160: 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,
2226-607: 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
2385-414: 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
2544-464: 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
2703-468: 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
2862-400: 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
3021-545: A luxury cinema format. By July 1999, Gold Class had already expanded to three auditoriums in Village Cinemas at Westfield Southland ; two at Century City Walk ; three at Sunshine Marketplace ; and one at The Jam Factory . Also by that time, the concept broadened to Birch Carroll & Coyle sites in Brisbane ; with two screens at Indooroopilly Shopping Centre ; and another two at Garden City . In October 1998,
3180-493: 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,
3339-757: A new Skycity Cinema in Westfield Manukau City , now an Event Cinema ). In 1992, the company entered Singapore with Hong Kong-based joint-venture partner, Golden Harvest , to form the Golden Village chain. Golden Village's success in Singapore further fuelled its international expansion in the mid-90s. In 1994, the company entered Thailand (Entertain Golden Village and Mongkol Golden Harvest), followed by Malaysia ( Tanjong Golden Village and Golden Screen Cinemas ) in 1995. By 1996,
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#17327653538673498-590: A new retail format from the creation of joint-venture, Village Nine Leisure, with Publishing & Broadcasting Limited and Westfield Group , to open a string of 'virtual entertainment' shops known as, Intencity . These video arcades expanded to most states and territories throughout Australia, usually co-locating with most Village Cinema sites in Victoria and Tasmania, and Greater Union/Birch Carroll & Coyle sites in other states (replacing some rival Timezone video arcade locations). Village Roadshow wholly acquired
3657-857: A nine-screen cinema the next month in Caballito, Buenos Aires continued under the new owners. At the time, Hoyts was the leading Argentine exhibitor, with a 29% market share . In 2007, Village Roadshow sold its Warner Village Cinema operations in Italy, its two cinemas in Austria, and disposed of its 25% interest in the Palace Cinemas circuit in Australia. In New Zealand and Fiji, the company sold its 50% holding in Village Skycity Cinemas Newmarket Broadway,
3816-460: 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
3975-529: A number of Village locations within wealthier areas in Australia, Singapore, Argentina, and Greece. It also operates under licence in cinemas previously owned by Village in the Czech Republic at CineStar, and India's PVR Cinemas . Gold Class Cinemas include cloakroom facilities , butlered refreshments , à la carte menu offerings and reclining seats . All Gold Class Cinemas are operated in separate areas within regular Village Cinema complexes; whilst
4134-510: A number of its other non-core operations at the time while giving greater focus to its film distribution and production arms which included more major co-productions with Warner Bros. In late 2001, the company continued its international rationalisation, selling off its Swiss and Hungarian theatres. Germany and France followed, and, by the end of 2002, the company had sold off its cinema businesses in Malaysia, India, and Thailand as well. Not all
4293-801: A number of new foreign markets, including Greece (Village Cinemas), Italy (Warner Village Cinemas), and India in 1997 (the Indian operations were a 60/40 joint-venture with local firm, Priya Exhibitors Private Limited to form PVR Cinemas – Priya Village Roadshow Limited). In 1998, it also moved into Taiwan (Golden Village), South Korea (CJ Golden Village), and France (Village Cinemas). In February 1997, Village Cinemas and Warner Bros. partnered again to open Australia's first 24-hour cinema in Melbourne's new Crown Casino complex when it also opened (it reverted to normal cinema hours in 2001). It also included another new type of cinema, four Gold Class auditoriums,
4452-413: 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
4611-417: 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.
4770-409: 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
4929-663: 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 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
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5088-486: A statement, admitting to shareholders; "The financial performance of the Gold Class USA cinemas has been disappointing from the outset." Over the next year, the new owners rebranded the chain to iPic Theaters, reduced ticket prices, added extra seating, outsourced restaurant services, and added extra locations while closing others. In February 2013, all four Tasmanian Village Cinemas joined Australian Theatres after
5247-584: 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
5406-461: A ticket for bigger chairs and the chance to order alcohol and gourmet food with their film. The only difference with the American chain saw its Gold Class screens located as stand-alone cinemas, while other international markets have theirs form part of the actual Village Cinema multiplexes. managing director, Graham Burke, commented on luxury movie watching as a new concept for America, "we will be
5565-414: 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
5724-569: 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
5883-575: Is a joint venture between Australian-based, Amalgamated Holdings Limited, and the Fijian-based, Damodar Brothers, who operate the existing two-cinema chain under licence since 2010. However, the joint venture will debut the Vmax and Gold Class concepts in late-2013 when a new Damodar Event Cinema multiplex opens in Damodar City, Suva . Gold Class cinemas, a luxury cinema format, is provided at
6042-445: Is also on site, which offers an SMS ordering service, which delivers food and drinks to your car. In early 2011 Village Cinemas Australia converted all of their auditoriums and cinemas to Digital Projectors, seeing traditional film and prints become extinct. The installation of these projectors means that all auditoriums are now RealD Cinema 3D capable. Initially the price of the 3D glasses required to watch films in 3D were included in
6201-427: Is also provided at many Event Cinemas sites. Village Vmax locations are: The Coburg Drive-In opened in 1965, and is one of only two drive-in theatres remaining in Victoria. The grand opening night's features were Alfred Hitchcock 's Marnie and McHale's Navy . Today, a variety of blockbusters are projected onto three 33-metre wide screens. Sound is available via FM stereo broadcast. A retro 1950s style diner
6360-575: 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
6519-641: 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
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6678-458: 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
6837-503: 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
6996-576: 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
7155-403: Is the last drive-in still operated by Village to this day. However, Village Roadshow responded to these new trends, adding its own video distribution and video rental operations in 1985. Village Roadshow responded to another expanding trend, that of the multiplex cinema in the 1980s and '90s. Multiplexes were a reaction by the movie exhibition industry to the rise of video; the multiplex offered
7314-516: 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
7473-740: Is used by Village as the main outlet for films with very limited screenings such as, Frances Ha and The Turning . In Hobart , the regular Village Cinema at Eastlands is occasionally used this way – it was the only cinema in Tasmania to screen Spring Breakers and Thanks for Sharing . Current Cinema Europa locations are: Vmax cinemas feature enhanced film display, picture quality and digital sound. The screens at Vmax are all of width 22 metres or greater (the largest being 28 metres at Westfield Knox) and are placed in large auditoriums which feature larger seats, stadium seating and wider armrests. Some locations also feature Dolby Atmos . The Vmax format
7632-474: 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
7791-754: 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
7950-424: 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
8109-640: 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
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#17327653538678268-504: The Czech Republic . In early 2001, Village Roadshow's swift international cinema expansion had not convinced investors, and amid falling profits and a floundering share price, the public company was forced to abandon its ambition of establishing a global cinema empire. The company began exiting a number of foreign markets, with plans to drop back to just ten of its more profitable country markets. Village Roadshow also began shedding
8427-536: 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
8586-754: 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
8745-468: 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;
8904-522: 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
9063-501: 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
9222-428: 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
9381-604: 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
9540-481: 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
9699-512: 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
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#17327653538679858-559: 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
10017-511: 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
10176-496: The Alabama Pension Fund, owned a combined 40% stake in the new business with Village owning the majority. The company signed up a total of 12 sites across the US, all in up-market shopping areas, including New York City and Seattle , with plans to grow to about 40 complexes within three to five years. Like Gold Class cinemas in other countries, the US chain was targeting affluent movie goers willing to pay $ US35 ($ A43)
10335-870: The Australian Multiplex Joint Venture back to Village Roadshow and Amalgamated Holdings Limited who increased their stakes to 50/50, forming Australian Theatres , the overall owner of Village Cinemas and Greater Union/Birch Carroll & Coyle ( Event Cinemas would be later introduced outside Village's Vic/Tas markets in 2009). In November 2005, Village Roadshow and their New Zealand cinema partner Skycity Entertainment Group , sold their 50/50 joint venture in Argentina's 6 theatre, 69 screen, Village Cines chain to two US-based investment funds, Southern Screens Entertainment II and Blue Ridge at 78% and 22% respectively. The Village brand and concepts were also acquired under licence with plans to open
10494-491: The Australian arrangements between joint venture partners, Village Cinemas and Greater Union/Birch Carroll & Coyle), yet merged back-office operations and marketing, leaving half-a-dozen staff redundant. The ownership structure saw Village Roadshow and Force Corporation New Solo Link Entertainment Centre Complex Medium sized keep 25% each, with Hoyts holding the remaining 50%. It was estimated by some business analysts that
10653-574: 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
10812-546: The Cinema Europa concept was introduced when three auditoriums were added to the Village Cinemas in The Jam Factory, closely followed by another three screens in Village Southland. As with Gold Class, this type of cinema would later be rolled out across other Village Cinemas in Melbourne before expanding overseas. Village Force Cinemas Crosstown, Solotech Link Duo, Mid Auckland number one In August 1999, it
10971-404: 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
11130-511: 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
11289-409: 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
11448-462: 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
11607-620: The Fijian Damodar Brothers in the Damodar Village Cinemas chain (retaining the half Village branding) – it lasted until January 2010 when Skycity divested all their exhibition interests to Village's Australian cinema partner, Amalgamated Holdings Limited . However, also in 2007, the company undertook a cinema refurbishment program in Greece, transitioning the chain from its original old style cinema designs to
11766-722: 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
11925-512: 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
12084-640: 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
12243-920: 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
12402-429: 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
12561-613: 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
12720-601: The approval of Golden Screen (also known as Orange Sky Golden Harvest ), the other joint venture partner. Instead, in October 2017, Orange Sky Golden Harvest purchased the Village Roadshow's 50% stake, therefore having full ownership of Golden Village. It is unknown whether the Village name will be dropped from Golden Village as a result of the acquisition. The chain was forced to temporarily close all cinemas across
12879-564: The arthouse Village Rialto chain, and Damodar Village Cinemas to Skycity Entertainment Group. This left Skycity with 100% control over the NZ Village Skycity Crosstown Sololink Tech circuit (promptly renaming the chain, Skycity Cinemas new Mangere Auckland John Goulter drive advanced ), 50% partners in Village Rialto with Rialto Distribution (renaming them Rialto Cinemas), and 50% partners with
13038-497: The audience for a sequel. Multiplex cinema 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
13197-407: 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
13356-409: 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
13515-470: 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
13674-606: The chain in 1999, and since 2005, rationalised most locations down to the current nine arcades. With the company being led by John and Robert Kirby (who alternated in the chairman's position) and Graham Burke, who undertook the managing director's position, Village Roadshow began expanding its cinemas overseas in the 1990s. This saw New Zealand (Village Force and Village Rialto) became the company's first foreign market in 1991 after it established its first cinema in Manukau (the original Village Force cinema closed in late-2008 to open
13833-436: 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
13992-497: The cinema chain being renamed to Village Skycity. Yet, the international market remained the company's clear priority as growth opportunities within its home market remained limited. Graham Burke told the Herald Sun , "We will be a worldwide entertainment giant – if we are not already – in five years." By the end of 2000, the Village Cinemas brand had entered a number of new foreign markets, including Austria , Switzerland , and
14151-500: The cinemas at Warrnambool and Bendigo – they are joint ventures between Village Roadshow and other businesses. The Peninsula Cinemas Group is also wholly owned by Village Roadshow Executive chairman, Robert Kirby, and his immediate family. All these sites are branded independently of Village, but Bendigo Cinemas carry many of Village's looks, including the interior of the building and staff uniforms. Within Argentina , Village Cines
14310-602: The combined group controlled more than two-thirds of all box office sales in New Zealand which concerned the Commerce Commission . However, after months of negotiations and legal threats from the Commission, Village Force Sololink Third The Next Level and Hoyts jointly announced in September 2000 that they would unwind the new partnership going back to their original ownership structures. Both companies said
14469-621: 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
14628-469: The company in 1960 sweeping floors at one of its theatres. Burke later became integral to the business, joining the Kirbys in Village Roadshow's expansion beyond exhibition. In 1967, the company entered the film distribution side, founding Roadshow Distributors. That operation later grew into Australia's largest, while also adding film production to its portfolio during the 1970s. The advent of home video in
14787-796: The company was actively expanding its cinema circuit in 20 different markets, including Hong Kong (Golden Village), joining with Orange Sky Golden Harvest again. In Europe, the company's purchase of half ownership in Warner International Theatres gave it a stake in 135 screens within the United Kingdom and 17 more in Germany, forming Warner Village Cinemas . By the end of 1996, the company had entered Fiji (Damodar Village Cinemas), Hungary (Hollywood Cinemas), and Argentina (Village Cines) as well. Also in 1996, Village Roadshow turned to its shareholders to fund further international expansion, raising $ A216 million. The company added
14946-498: The company's cinema businesses were in regression, however, as the company added extra theatres to its existing chains in the Czech Republic, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom that year. In early 2003, Burke and the Kirby brothers admitted that they saw Village Roadshow's future chiefly in film production, particularly given the seemingly saturated status of the exhibition market. That year, Warner Bros. sold their 33.3% share in
15105-526: The cost as well, it's just time to say, 'We gave it a good shot and let's put it behind us." He added that, "everybody's fed up with the whole thing now and wants to get on with life." This left Hoyts NZ to find another head office location, while Force Corporation look now open only x for Sololink In The Next Level interactive stages time-out leisure 3D Glasses On NOW would later be subject to an acquisition by Skycity Entertainment Group in March 2001, resulting in
15264-620: 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
15423-786: The country in early 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic , but reopened sites on 12 November 2020. Within its home market, the Village Cinemas brand only operates in Victoria and Tasmania . The chain is a joint venture between Village Roadshow and Amalgamated Holdings Limited since 2003, forming Australian Theatres . Except the multiplexes at Jam Factory , Werribee Plaza , Geelong , and Morwell – they have different joint venture partners with Village Roadshow. Victoria: Tasmania: Village Cinemas also has film and product output arrangements with affiliate (partner) cinemas at regional sites that are independently owned and operated. Except
15582-665: 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
15741-677: The courts would have upheld the alliance in the end, but conceded the costs and time required in legal actions meant it was not worth battling the Commerce Commission over the issue. Village Force Manukau Mt Eden Mt Wellington new Lynn Newmarket Auckland Henderson-West City St Lukes Glenfield Mall Crosstown Botany Downs Onehunga in Royal Oak And X Sololink chief executive, Joe Moodabe told the New Zealand Herald , "there were so many uncertainties and frustrations and
15900-434: 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
16059-681: 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
16218-482: 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 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
16377-529: 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
16536-404: 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
16695-415: 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
16854-559: The film production and distribution arms, under licence. In June 2012, Demco expanded the Village brand further by establishing a Pay TV movie channel in Greece called, Village Cinema , on the OTE TV platform. The year before, Demco announced they were establishing the first Village Cinema within Romania , in Iași 's new Palas Mall. The 10-screen multiplex (including one Vmax screen) was slated for
17013-400: 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
17172-483: The first 4DX screen owned by Village was opened. 4DX allows a motion picture presentation to be augmented with environmental effects such as seat motion, wind, rain, fog, lights, and scents along with the standard video and audio. As such, theatres must be specially designed for and equipped with 4DX technology. There are 4DX screens at the following sites: Movie theater A movie theater ( American English ) or cinema ( Commonwealth English ), also known as
17331-497: 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
17490-430: 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
17649-525: The first mover in that market." Yet, he added a reassurance for shareholders, "Australia is the 51st state, the culture is very similar and it's worked so well in Australia." Village Roadshow Gold Class was headquartered in Burbank, California and led by CEO, Kirk Senior. In October 2009, local diversified investment holding company, Demco Group, acquired 100% of Village Roadshow's Greek operations including all seven Village Cinema multiplexes, in addition to
17808-585: The forerunners to the multiplexes of today. In 1988, Village Roadshow sold two-thirds in Village Cinemas and entered into an equal joint-venture partnership with Warner Brothers and Greater Union to develop a new chain of multiplex cinemas throughout Australia. The partnership, called the Australian Multiplex Joint Venture, grew quickly through the 1990s, establishing a chain of nearly 30 theatres with nearly 320 screens. The first joint-venture multiplex opened in Melbourne's Westfield Airport West as 'Village Greater Union 8' in 1989. In 1995, Village Roadshow added
17967-1067: The former United States' Village Roadshow Gold Class chain were completely separate complexes between 2008 and 2010. The Gold Class format is also provided at many Event Cinemas sites and one regional Australian affiliate cinema. Village-branded Gold Class Cinemas are located at: In Australia: In Singapore: In Argentina: In Greece: In the Czech Republic: In India: Cinema Europa auditoriums are located in separate areas within regular Village Cinema complexes in Melbourne , Singapore, Athens , and one Indian PVR Cinema . They feature mostly arthouse , foreign language , and documentary films (some Australian films also show within Australian Cinema Europa locations) which are typically not shown in regular/traditional Village Cinema screens. Each Europa location features separate toilets and
18126-517: The foundation in one of Australia's first drive-in theatre operations in Croydon , Melbourne (Melbourne's third drive-in, but only the fourth in the entire country), established by Roc Kirby . The drive-in was adjacent to the shopping strip, Croydon Village; hence the company adopted the 'Village' name. Kirby had already operated traditional indoor cinemas, under the Kirby Theatres name, but
18285-803: The founding entity of parent company , Village Roadshow from 1954 when the first drive-in theatre was established, and from 1988 Warner Brothers owned a one-third share in the chain. The Village Cinemas brand also operates in various forms within some international markets, either as a joint venture with Village Roadshow, or under licence , where they also operate within Event Cinemas/Greater Union/Birch Carroll & Coyle , and many international cinema-chains. Village Cinemas has output deals with all major film distributors and selectively screens some independently sourced films depending on material. The company origins of Village Roadshow and Village Cinemas came in 1954 from
18444-409: 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
18603-575: 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
18762-510: 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
18921-523: The late 1950s, with the circuit opening in the Melbourne suburbs of Rowville and Essendon ; Victorian regional areas of Hamilton , Wangaratta and Stawell ; and regional Tasmania in Launceston . Village also went into its first partnership with Greater Union to build a Geelong drive-in, and by the beginning of the 1960s, operated 27 drive-in theatres throughout the states of Victoria and Tasmania . Village Drive-In then began to expand throughout
19080-405: The late-1970s, however, spelled the end of the drive-in theatres. Although Village Roadshow continued to operate a number of drive-ins until the 1990s, the format itself faded quickly with the growing availability of videocassettes and VCRs (the original Croydon drive-in closed in 1990). However, Village Coburg Drive-In, within the inner-Melbourne suburb of Coburg North , survived this period and
19239-561: The long-standing joint venture between Village Roadshow and WIN Corporation ceased when WIN sold out. WIN's 50% investment was a legacy involvement from the mid-1980s, carried over from former Launceston -based media company, ENT Limited , which initially bought the stake (WIN acquired ENT in 1995). In June 2017, Village Roadshow's 50% stake in Golden Village was set to be acquired by Singapore -based media mini-conglomerate MM2 Asia. However, mm2's bid to acquire 50% of Golden Village cinema chain fell through as Village Roadshow failed to secure
19398-946: 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;
19557-442: The new 'Village World' concept that included the debut of Vmax and Gold Class screens, in addition to cafés, bowling alleys and movie merchandise stores. In October 2008, the company entered the United States exhibition market by opening the first Village Roadshow Gold Class cinema in the wealthy Chicago suburb of South Barrington , followed by a second at Redmond, Washington . Local joint venture partners, Crescent Entertainment and
19716-433: 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,
19875-419: The outdoor Village-brand concept was to provide the motor for the company's growth. The original Village Drive-In featured capacity for 454 cars, later being redeveloped to offer features such as a swimming pool and a go-cart track, as well as a walk-in area for customers without cars. Kirby's company also built and operated a motel facing the theatre. Kirby rapidly expanded Village Drive-In Pty Limited through
20034-512: 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
20193-416: 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
20352-405: 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
20511-584: 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
20670-507: The rest of Australia, particularly after the company began adding so-called "hard-top" (enclosed) cinemas in the 1960s. While drive-ins catered to Australia's suburban and vast regional markets, the hard-top theatres targeted the country's growing inner-city areas where their populations were less reliant on private automobile ownership. Joining Roc Kirby in the company's expansion were his sons, Robert and John, who helped out by serving popcorn and soft drinks, and Graham Burke, who commenced with
20829-556: 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
20988-634: 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
21147-554: 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
21306-530: 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
21465-697: 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
21624-477: 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"
21783-399: 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
21942-414: 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
22101-693: 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
22260-402: 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
22419-528: 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
22578-404: The ticket price, however this has recently changed and the $ 1 cost of the glasses is being changed separately, making it cheaper for guests as it encourages people to keep and re-use their glasses for future sessions. Vjunior is a movie theatre by Village Cinemas made for children, which includes a slide and a play area. There are VPremium auditoriums at the following sites: On 27 October 2017,
22737-406: 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
22896-694: 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
23055-572: 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
23214-470: 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
23373-568: 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
23532-470: 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
23691-647: Was a joint venture between Southern Screens Entertainment II and Blue Ridge, based in the United States , and operated the brand under license from 2005 to 2018. Cinépolis is the new joint venture since 2018 based in Mexico . Within Greece , investment holding company, ANT1 Group, owns and operates all Village-branded entities including Village Cinemas under licence since 2022. Within Fiji , Damodar Village Cinemas
23850-448: Was announced that the Village Force Newmarket and Village Rialto cinema chains in New Zealand (both being 50/50 joint ventures between Village Roadshow and NZ-based Force Corporation) would sell half their combined share in both multiplex networks to Hoyts to obtain half ownership in Hoyts' own NZ operations. Village Force Sololink, Village Rialto Solo Duo and Hoyts New Centre Crosstown new mid Auckland remained separate brands (similar to
24009-417: 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
24168-515: 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
24327-414: 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,
24486-475: 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
24645-443: 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
24804-413: 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
24963-461: 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,
25122-421: Was to offset 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
25281-458: 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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