A movie theater, cinema, or cinema hall, also known as a picture house, the pictures, or the movies, is a building that contains auditoria for viewing films for entertainment. Most, but not all, theaters are commercial operations catering to the general public, who attend by purchasing a ticket. Some movie theaters, however, are operated by non-profit organizations or societies that charge members a membership fee to view films.
Home cinema, also called a home theater, a home theatre, and a theater room, are home entertainment audio-visual systems that seek to reproduce a movie theater experience and mood using consumer electronics-grade video and audio equipment that is set up in a room or backyard of a private home. In the 1980s, home cinemas typically consisted of a movie pre-recorded on a LaserDisc or VHS tape; a LaserDisc or VHS player; and a heavy, bulky large-screen cathode ray tube TV set. In the 2000s, technological innovations in sound systems, video player equipment and TV screens and video projectors have changed the equipment used in home cinema set-ups and enabled home users to experience a higher-resolution screen image, improved sound quality and components that offer users more options. The development of Internet-based subscription services means that 2016-era home theatre users do not have to commute to a video rental store as was common in the 1980s and 1990s.
AMC Theatres is a U.S.-based movie theater chain headquartered in Leawood, Kansas, and is the largest movie theater chain in the world. Founded in 1920, AMC has the largest share of the American theater market ahead of Cineworld and Cinemark Theatres.
Cineworld is the world’s second largest cinema chain, with 9,518 screens across 790 sites in 11 countries: the UK, the US, Canada, Ireland, Poland, Romania, Israel, Hungary, Czechia, Bulgaria and Slovakia. The group’s primary brands are Regal, Cineworld and Picturehouse, Cinema City and Yes Planet.
Regal Cinemas, formerly known as Regal Entertainment Group, is an American movie theater chain headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. Regal operates the second-largest theater circuit in the United States, with over 7,307 screens in 564 theaters as of June 2016. The three main theatre brands operated by Regal Entertainment Group are Regal Cinemas, Edwards Theatres, and United Artists Theatres. The company became a subsidiary of Cineworld Group in 2018.
Rave Cinemas, formerly known as "Rave Motion Pictures", is a movie theater brand founded in 1999 and owned by Cinemark Theatres. It previously was headed by Thomas W. Stephenson, Jr., former CEO of Hollywood Theaters, and Rolando B. Rodriguez, former Vice President and Regional General Manager for Walmart in Illinois and northern Indiana. The chain was headquartered in Dallas, Texas until it was acquired by Plano-based Cinemark Theatres.
Landmark Theatres is the largest specialised movie theatre chain in the United States dedicated to exhibiting and marketing independent and foreign films.
Cinemark USA, Inc. is an American movie theater chain owned by Cinemark Holdings, Inc. operating throughout the Americas and in Taiwan. It is headquartered in Plano, Texas, in the Dallas–Fort Worth area. It is the largest movie theatre chain in Brazil, with a 30 percent market share.
Cineplex Inc., formerly known as Cineplex Galaxy Income Fund and Galaxy Entertainment Inc. is a Canadian entertainment company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Through its operating subsidiary Cineplex Entertainment LP, Cineplex operates 165 theatres across Canada. The company operates theatres under numerous brands, including Cineplex Cinemas, Cineplex Odeon, SilverCity, Galaxy Cinemas, Cinema City, Famous Players, Scotiabank Theatres and Cineplex VIP Cinemas.
Harkins Theatres is an American movie theater chain with locations throughout the Southwestern United States. Harkins Theatres is privately owned and operated by its parent company, Harkins Enterprises, LLC. The company currently operates 34 theaters with 515 screens throughout Arizona, California, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Kerasotes Showplace Theatres, LLC is a movie theatre operator in the United States. Based in Chicago, Kerasotes Showplace Theatres, LLC was the sixth-largest movie-theatre company in North America with 957 screens in 95 locations in California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, and Wisconsin.
The Marcus Corporation is an American publicly held company headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The company operates two principal divisions: Marcus Theatres and Marcus Hotels and Resorts. One of the company's principal assets, Baymont Inn & Suites, was sold to La Quinta Corporation in 2003. Marcus Cable, which merged in 1998 with Charter Communications, was founded by a member of the Marcus family, but held no direct corporate connection to Marcus Corporation itself.
A multiplex is a movie theater complex with multiple screens 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 a megaplex.
Major Cineplex Group Public Co. Ltd. is the largest operator of movie theaters in both Thailand and Laos. Combined with its subsidiary, EGV Entertainment, the company has 490 screens around Thailand. Among its properties is Thailand's largest multiplex, the Paragon Cineplex at Siam Paragon, with 16 screens and 5,000 seats, along with the IMAX theater. The second-largest chain in Thailand is SF Cinema City.
Cinépolis is a Mexican movie theater chain. Its name means City of Cinema and its slogan is La Capital del Cine.
Roy A. Benjamin (1888-1963) was a prominent architect in Jacksonville, Florida.
Riverside and Avondale are two adjacent and closely associated neighborhoods, alternatively considered one continuous neighborhood, of Jacksonville, Florida. The area is primarily residential, but includes some commercial districts, including Five Points, the King Street District, and the Shoppes of Avondale.
4DX is a 4D film format developed by CJ 4DPlex, a subsidiary of South Korean cinema chain CJ CGV. It allows films to be augmented with various practical effects, including motion seats, wind, strobe lights, simulated snow, and scents. First introduced commercially in 2009, it presents films in both 3D and traditional 2D formats.
Neighborhood Cinema Group, branded as NCG Cinemas, is a movie theater chain headquartered in Owosso, Michigan and are owned and operated by the Geiger family. The chain consists at present of 25 theaters with 147 screens. Most of the theaters are located in Michigan with 10 locations, especially in the Flint/Tri-Cities region and the Greater Lansing area. The group also operates in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, New York State, North and South Carolina and Tennessee.
Nitehawk Cinema is a dine-in independent movie theater in Brooklyn, New York City. It operates two locations, in the neighborhoods of Williamsburg and Park Slope. The theater, which offers a menu of food and drinks that can be ordered and consumed while patrons view films, was the first liquor licensed movie theater in the state of New York, and the first movie theater in New York City to offer table service.
