Cineworld Cinema - Leicester Square

5 Leicester Square,
London, WC2H 7NA

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CF100
CF100 on September 26, 2017 at 8:37 pm

Zappomatic: Interesting point, might be because the high frequency dispersion of the screen speakers doesn’t work with a relatively wide auditorium with seating that close to the screen?

Having a quick look at speakers for small auditoria, the specification sheet for the JBL 3678 gives 90deg as the nominal horizontal coverage for the high frequency horn section. So based on that, the side seats in Screen 7 would indeed be outside this for the centre speaker.

Albeit the screen perforations will cause some high frequency spreading, which might help.

OTOH, why would you sit off centre, if you had a choice…? Where possible, I always pre-book centre seats.

I haven’t been to the IMPACT/SuperScreen for a while, but IIRC the picture didn’t have perfectly straight edges, some “barrel” (like a goldfish bowl) distortion.

Whereas the IMAX seems to be perfect in this respect.

Zappomatic
Zappomatic on September 26, 2017 at 8:08 pm

The trouble with screen 7 (and some of the other wide but shallow auditoriums) is that with the way the audio is set up and balanced, if you’re not sitting in the middle you end up so close to one of the left or right front channels that it almost drowns out the centre dialogue channel.

Screen 6 still does have bottom masking. It’s a slightly claustrophobic auditorium.

I can’t say I’ve found the Superscreen to particularly suffer from its lack of masking as there’s a good level of contrast and sharpness from the current projectors. Conversely the masking isn’t working in some of the smaller screens and they definitely do suffer for it.

CF100
CF100 on September 26, 2017 at 5:57 pm

PhilipWW: Empire Cinemas gave the screen sizes as:

IMAX: 26.5mx15.6m = approx. 1.7:1.

IMPACT/SuperScreen: 20.5mx11m = approx. 1.86:1.

I don’t think the IMAX projection quite reaches the top of the screen, but IIRC almost all of the screen was filled for the segments of Dunkirk shot using IMAX 15/70 cameras. The IMAX laser projectors can do 1.4:1.

BTW, Screen 1 is actually the IMPACT/SuperScreen, Screen 3 is the IMAX.

When I spoke to someone from Cineworld (who has worked at the Empire since the UCI days) last month, they told me that the 4DX conversion and foyer refurbishments were the first priority. I walked past the Empire yesterday, I couldn’t see any sign of foyer refurbishment. The 4DX is definitely underway as a month ago progress was at least up to the point of completing the strip-out.

Screen 7 is definitely impressive for the size of the auditorium, I think it’s as big as those much larger auditoria in some other nearby venues, almost the same width as VUE West End Screen 6, if I’m not mistaken.

The IMPACT/SuperScreen definitely needs masking and I can’t understand why it wasn’t installed in the first place.

An upgrade to laser projection would also be good.

PhilipWW
PhilipWW on September 26, 2017 at 5:08 pm

I would be interested in knowing what the aspect ratios of all the screens are now.

Screen 1 is presumably the 1.90 digital IMAX ratio. When not used for IMAX presentations, standard 1.85 films will be shown very slightly pillarboxed and Scope films letterboxed at 2.39.

Screen 2 : I hope will be 2.39 Scope when refitted as a 4DX screen. I am not familiar with Cineworld 4DX standards.

Screen 3 Impact I presume is 1.85. I have seen one Scope movie there which by necessity was letterboxed to obtain 2.39. An Empire projectionist did tell me at the time that they were thinking of installing top and bottom masking as it would be better, but I guess nothing came of that.

Screens 4 and 5 were 2.39 Scope with side masking. Screen 4, I thought, was very impressive for the size of the auditorium.

Screen 6 was just 1.85 ‘Flat.’ I only went there once and didn’t like it. If I remember correctly they had bottom up masking to achieve the Scope frame. That may have changed now.

Screens 7, 8 and 9 were 2.39 Scope with side masking. Screen 7 I also thought was an impressive size for the auditorium.

Has anything changed or is anything about to change under Cineworld ?

theatreofvarieties
theatreofvarieties on September 25, 2017 at 3:23 pm

The casino have a lease over the whole building (they are the cinemas landlord) and yes, their lease is 25 years, the cinema lease pre-dates their lease and is for longer, weird i know but thats how it is.

As a forward thinking landlord, you would routinely object to this sort of thing, doesnt mean you are actually thinking of doing it!

It would take too long to list all the issues of the fabric of the auditorium, the physical properties and the political properties that all factored into why it was no longer viable. Suffice it to say that spending £4 million on it wasn’t done whimsically and without very good reason.

Sintered tiles http://www.rpgeurope.com/products/product/reapor.html

I have some more arcane questions, if you would be kind enough to answer them.

So, just wondering what changes, other than raising the ductwork, if any, were made to the air conditioning?

none – the grilles are the new supply ducts that replace the old supply ducts that were previously hidden in the back of the coves. the new design didn’t have enough room to put the grilles back there again. the extract ducts are two decorative brass ones under the projection overhang in the back wall (only decorative part of the 60’s auditorium to survive albeit now sprayed black) in addition to about 300 small grilles under the seating at every level.

-In your photo of the IMAX auditorium—"New ceiling framework“—there is a black area in the middle of the right curved ceiling section. Slightly confused as I thought it was normal practice to attach stretched fabric to (fixings on) plasterboard, and also acoustic absorption behind the stretched fabric? It doesn’t looks like there’s much space for it. – the black fabric is tensioned with black plastic gripping rails, the absorption is fitted in-between the metal purlins, nothing unusual going on, just a slightly different method of attaching, a skin of plasterboard would have made the ceiling too reflective at higher frequencies so it was simply omitted.

-Was there insulation above the ceiling in Empire 1? I would have expected that it would be required for THX certification? Yes there was.

Thanks for your reply to my photo of the worn out ceiling, shame no-one will apply flocking in-situ these days, I imagine Health and Safety reasons. – No, its just there is not enough demand for it apparently.

CF100
CF100 on September 21, 2017 at 11:18 pm

theatreofvarieties: Thank you once again for your very informative posts.

That’s great to hear that Cineworld have a 60 year lease on it—I will be able to sleep easier at night knowing this!

My (clearly outdated) understanding was that the casino held the head lease, expiring 2030, with the cinema subleased.

L&R formally objected to windows being installed (as part of the hotel conversion) on the rear of 1-4 Leicester Sq. as it could compromise future development potential. However, permission was granted permission on appeal. (16/00408/TPCON.)

I wonder what you mean by “[Empire 1] had too many things wrong with it and needed too much money just to keep it in one piece”?

I guess the origin of the tiles shall forever have to remain a mystery! I would, however, be interested in the source of the sintered glass tiles that you said were applied to the existing in 2006?

I have some more arcane questions, if you would be kind enough to answer them.

-My third visit to the IMAX auditorium in 2014 was for a late night screening. I noticed that the room temperature was cycling between hot/cold, although this now seems to have been fixed. Empire 1 always had fantastic air conditioning in my experience. The IMAX clearly has four vents in the ceiling, which I assume are for the return? Empire 1 seemed to have vents just behind the edges of each ceiling “cove” and the set for the cove just ahead of the projection booth can be seen in your photo. So, just wondering what changes, other than raising the ductwork, if any, were made to the air conditioning?

-In your photo of the IMAX auditorium—"New ceiling framework“—there is a black area in the middle of the right curved ceiling section. Slightly confused as I thought it was normal practice to attach stretched fabric to (fixings on) plasterboard, and also acoustic absorption behind the stretched fabric? It doesn’t looks like there’s much space for it.

-Was there insulation above the ceiling in Empire 1? I would have expected that it would be required for THX certification?

Thanks for your reply to my photo of the worn out ceiling, shame no-one will apply flocking in-situ these days, I imagine Health and Safety reasons.

theatreofvarieties
theatreofvarieties on September 20, 2017 at 1:26 pm

CF100 – the bump tiles were just decorative, they didn’t do anything. The 1927 circle stadia did indeed go higher than the current (1962) stadia, there was clear evidence of this in the side walls. Haven’t got a clue what the 1962 tiles were exactly but its very obvious they were there to attempt to control the sound as they were applied onto the fibrous backing plaster moulding. If they were just decorative then the whole thing would have come in as is from a mould, plus they would have been smooth rather than aerated.

theatreofvarieties
theatreofvarieties on September 20, 2017 at 12:43 pm

it cost £4 million to convert and make the two auditoriums, would have paid back in less than three years but obviously paid back in spades when Cineworld purchased it. Commercially it was a necessity, you can disagree all you like and pitch in theoretical sounding ideas ‘that would definitely have worked’ but at the end of the day, it lost a lot of money because the auditorium was too big, never filled except on (loss making) premieres and had too many things wrong with it and needed too much money just to keep it in one piece and a like for like refurbishment would not have promised as much additional product and custom as an IMAX would (and has!) Empire are still based in the old dressing rooms and tank room that is accessed from Leicester place. There were no financial issues involved in the sale, Cineworld approached Empire and paid silly money just because they desperately wanted a leicester square cinema and they wanted to buy market share so they could beat Odeon consistantly. Empire is structured exactly the same as Odeon, each cinema is it’s own company with a parent company. L&R cant pull the building down, Cineworld have a lease with 60 years left on it, that’s the landlords next opportunity to take the building back on the basis of a conversion.

CF100
CF100 on September 20, 2017 at 3:31 am

Zappomatic: During my last trip (Dunkirk), I had a look behind the back of the cinema (Lisle Street/Leicester Place), mainly to take photos of urine stains outside the fire exits for amusement value, but I thought perhaps it was getting altogether too silly to upload them!

Anyway, there is a sign by a door on Leicester Place which says “Empire Studios”. (I’ll upload the photo tomorrow.) I don’t remember it being there previously, and it’s not visible on Google Maps Street View.

The relevant planning application is 06/08456/FULL — “Alterations to existing tank room to create additional office space, erection of new tank room and alterations to staircase at roof level, together with erection of canopy above Leicester Place entrance.”

For some reason the documents aren’t available? “Planning Application details not available.”

Anyway, you can see the location of the “tank room” here, in the lower cross-section plan:

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/sites/default/files/publications/pubid-295/images/fig104.gif

(The upper cross-section plan, of course, is for the 1927 auditorium; not sure why the “dome” is included in lower one.)

I imagine it was originally used to house the organ.

Also, there are high level offices behind what was the left hand wall of Empire 1, which I assume are part of Empire Studios.

I recall from the 2006 planning application that Muraspec wall coverings were specified. That stuff retails for, say, £15-30+ per sq. metre… very expensive for wallpaper, so I assume the offices are nicely decorated!

(I thought I might buy some myself… until I realised the price was “per linear metre” (130cm width) and not per roll!)

I imagine it’s a fancy “head office” rather than housing all staff. An embarrassing situation indeed!

Empire Cinemas 2 still exists as an active company, being an indirectly held subsidiary of Cineworld. Looking at Cineworld’s Annual Report 2016, Picturehouse had the same structure, e.g. “City Screen (Cambridge) Limited.” All of those City Screen (aka Picturehouse) subsidiary companies will soon be dissolved, though.

Zappomatic
Zappomatic on September 19, 2017 at 11:48 pm

Hadn’t noticed Empire Cinemas still have their head office listed as being Leicester Square. Wonder if it’s really just a front for a PO box? Otherwise it’s slightly embarrassing, a bit like still living with your ex after you’ve split up… Although, Empire’s structure looks like a rather questionable house of cards with each cinema registered as a separate company in Jersey. Company names take the form of (Location) Cinema 2 Ltd eg. Walthamstow Cinema 2 Ltd. Tax efficient, some might say.

CF100
CF100 on September 19, 2017 at 2:00 pm

t still says “Cineworld Cinemas Leicester Square at the Empire Theatre” on Facebook—that’s the only “public” place I’ve seen them use “Empire.” It’s always been Cineworld Leicester Square AFAIK on their website.

The foyer rendering has “Cineworld Empire” on the right vestibule wall.

To be fair, it is confusing to use the word “Empire” when there’s the “Empire Cinemas” chain, plus potential trademark issues.

OTOH, I think it’s pretty clear from the foyer rendering that they are not interested in the heritage aspects, and their annual reports/presentations say that they have achieved their long held ambition of having a flagship West End site. I expect it therefore will continue to be run as a West End flagship, but with Cineworld branding it as their site… “star” logos emblazoned all over.

As long as the Casino is called the “Empire Casino” the Empire name shall remain. Additionally, Empire Cinemas' HQ is still in the same building!

The long term risk may be if owner London + Regional Properties tears the whole building down to make way for a hotel, presumably with downsized leisure areas in the basements. I imagine Cineworld have more leverage than Empire Cinemas to stop the real doomsday scenario…

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on September 19, 2017 at 3:24 am

Cineworld Leicester Square appears to have dropped the Empire name altogether now. Shameful.

CF100
CF100 on September 10, 2017 at 11:26 pm

Thanks, Zappomatic, for those photos of the access to Screen 9.

What a dreadfully scrappy arrangement with the “wooden box” at the back of Screen 9.

The stairs/lobby areas look pretty good, but the “starfield” is bodged—not remotely comparable to the 1989 fibre-optic starfields in the foyer/Empire 1. There’s some information on them in the Lighting + Sound International article I previously linked to (PDF p19-21):

“Par Opti Projects used no less than 14,000 fibre optic lenses producing 26,000 light points in the ceiling, created by various size fibres. The new Eldon bezels were specifically developed for the four sizes of star lenses, together with twinkle wheels…”

BTW, the “studio” screens use Eomac stretched fabric wall systems—“gold frames by others” according to the PDF linked to from that page.

Wonder when the foyer/associated areas work will commence? I assume at some point they will have to completely close during the works, and looking at their website, Cineworld have performances scheduled through the end of this month.

Sooner the better as I already said my “goodbyes” to the existent foyer—no desire to go through that process again! :–( Thankfully, on my last visit to Screen 1 I had no idea about the impeding conversion—theatreofvarieties' strip-out photos were fascinating, but time (and nice replacement auditoria) heals. It would have been far too emotional to bear.

CF100
CF100 on August 31, 2017 at 8:59 pm

Cjbx11: According to Maeve Contractors, the conversion cost £5m. I saw £4.6m quoted elsewhere.

I’m not convinced by the conversion in terms of gaining the extra screen, but I do think that Empire 1 couldn’t meet today’s expectations—the stalls were too flatly raked, and the circle was too far from the screen—and the “slap echo” made dialogue unintelligible—especially since movie soundtracks, these days, are mixed for acoustically damped small to medium sized rooms.

Please don’t get me wrong, I loved Empire 1, but I can see that it wasn’t perfect.

Added to the above they obtained the IMAX brand on the facade and at present they have the only IMAX with Laser installation in London with the screen size to match. One only has to look at the BFI to see how popular full scale IMAX is.

Empire Cinemas' beneficial owner, Thomas Anderson, was reported to have had problems with debt structuring over in Ireland. Cineworld admit, in their annual report, to paying a very large premium (over their own fair market valuation) to acquire those key sites from Empire Cinemas.

Regarding standards of presentation, I cannot remember the lighting and tabs at my local Odeon, the main screen of which was still OK despite subdivision. But I can say that it wasn’t until the late 1990s that Dolby Digital was installed, and even then the sound was quite poor. JBL rear speakers were installed but who knows what was behind the screen.

I have been to multiplexes on multiple occasions (35mm) where there was a failure to switch lens for the main feature (until I left the auditorium to complain!) and even more times with otherwise sloppy projection such as an out-of-focus picture.

The local Cannons and Coronets, which may well have had tabs, were absolutely dire in all respects.

OTOH, I went to a new multiplex back then and there were no tabs; before the feature, a badly aligned slide projector was used to show still adverts for local businesses. This included the local kebab shop or similar. Absolutely terrible.

Cjbx11
Cjbx11 on August 31, 2017 at 6:16 pm

Whilst I understand the points made by Lionel I’m still not convinced splitting Empire 1 was the correct decision. Firstly the Empire has managed to add a number of extra screens since the 90s and although very small they must certainly help the profitability of the Empire in similar way to the Odeon Studios attached to the Odeon Leicester Square. Secondly I don’t know the exact cost of the conversion but I suspect it was in the millions and it will be many years if ever that the extra revenue from the IMAX screen ever pays for itself. As for the future of cinema I’m not quite as pessimistic as Lionel and his prediction of Burger Kings style cinema and think cinema may actually go upmarket with more cinemas along the lines of Everyman and Picture House as the public look for something better than your average multiplex. The thing that I find most depressing is that the standard of presentation and whole cinema experiance was far better at my old local 1930s Odeon with its drop wall conversion than I have ever seen at the multiplex that replaced it.

CF100
CF100 on August 31, 2017 at 4:51 pm

Robert: Thanks for your fascinating recollections of how things were back in the day! By those standards, showmanship and presentation had already declined before I was born.

Empire 1 was my favourite cinema, too. But I always imagined that it couldn’t possibly remain in that form forever. :–(

Robert L. Bradley
Robert L. Bradley on August 31, 2017 at 4:34 pm

I agree too, Lionel. I’ve been going to London cinemas since 1967 when I was in the U.S. Army stationed in Germany. It was quite an event flying over to London to see great films at the Warner, Carlton, Dominion, Astoria, and the Classic Cinemas. At the bigger ones, they had an interval after the shorts and trailers, and they had usherettes coming through the aisles wearing trays containing ice cream parfaits and other treats for sale. There was usually a Pathe or Movietone newsreel. And the national anthem was played after the last showing at night. Curtains, flooded in colored light, were used. Now I’m living in the USA and I fly to London a couple of times a year to see movies in nice cinemas. Doing away with Empire Screen 1 was an abomination! It was my favorite cinema. I still like the Odeon Leicester Square, but they usually play the blockbuster films that I’m not interested in seeing. I also like the Prince Charles, and NFT 1 is great. But the showmanship and presentation is sadly a thing of the past.

CF100
CF100 on August 31, 2017 at 4:28 pm

Lionel: Interesting that the GM said that to you back then.

In the 1990s, new build multiplex development in London had trailed behind the rest of the country. In parts of London, the only “local” option was a 1930s cinema which typically had become a run down Cannon or Coronet, probably with Altec speakers behind the screen, and, in the largest auditorium, a really bad Dolby Stereo installation, with the smaller auditoria still mono. The environment was very poor with awful subdivisions and lack of upkeep.

If you wanted to see a quality presentation with 5.1 digital audio and particularly in a THX certified screen then the West End was the only game in town.

I remember Empire 1 being very busy at peak times; I knew people at that time with no particular special interest in cinema who would visit the West End for some “blockbuster” movies.

By 2000 or so a number of new multiplexes had opened in London, so this situation had changed. The standard of presentation at these tended to be sub-par, but they were new, clean and had digital sound. More have opened today with further sites in the pipeline.

Around that time the Empire building (5-6 Leicester Sq.) was acquired by London & Regional Properties (from First Leisure, operators of the nightclub that was then below the main part of the cinema.) Currently, AFAIK the building is on a 25 year lease (ending 2030) to the company which owns the casino.

I had expected the building to be demolished by now, and I dare say without the successful casino, it would have been.

I don’t see small auditoria built in “spare” space as negative—do not visit them if you don’t like them? I have not been to the Odeon Mezzanine/Studios in a long time.

I share your concerns over the loss of West End cinema “culture.” Empire Cinemas, I think, very much ran it as the Empire Leicester Sq. and not another multiplex and we shall see if this is sustained under Cineworld.

One of the benefits of an IMAX installation is the quality control including continuous montoring by IMAX, and automatic daily recalibration of picture/sound. Auditoria used for premieres should also benefit from more servicing of projection/sound than the average cinema.

All IMAX screenings are introduced by a member of staff; the Empire IMAX still has colour changing concealed lighting; no tabs but the screen is never simply left blank.

A new laser show would be a great addition. :–(

I sudder to think of watching an 8K screening whilst eating a plastic tasting steak from the awful tourist trap that is an Angus Steak House!

Thankfully, this is not the direction that cinemas are going in, however. Operators are spending a lot of money refurbishing or on new sites with nice foyer areas and “premium large format” screens featuring Dolby Atmos, sometimes laser projection, and more spacious seating. Also, the average new IMAX screen—and they are increasing in number—may be disappointing for someone familar with the “classic” ones, but IMAX Digital is a high quality system—vastly better than the days of the typical multiplex out-of-focus 35mm presentation with medicore audio!

These developments are covered in the “Next Gen Multiplex” feature in the June 2017 issue of Cinema Technology Magazine.

I agree with your comments on the current medicore output of Hollywood. The picture quality, sound and special effects in some of today’s releases is incredible—but the incomprehensible plot and threadbare storytelling makes watching “blockbuster” or “tentpole” films with wall to wall action like going to a theme park. I like theme parks, actually, but it’s not how movies ought to be.

P.S. For me Leicester Square is a nice place to be on a sunny afternoon if it’s not too busy.

terry
terry on August 31, 2017 at 1:03 pm

Bravely spoken, Lionel – but I agree with every word you have said!

Lionel
Lionel on August 31, 2017 at 7:18 am

@Cjbx11 There are several aspects to the problem.

When I spoke to the Empire’s general manager in 1993 (UCI back then), he told me that somebody would have to take the decision one day, surely before the year 2000, to split it in two. Well, it took 15 years more to happen, but it happened.

The nineties is when things started to function stupidly in a suicidal way for theatres. The Warner went from 5 screens to 8, the Odeon Leicester Square had the 5-matchbox (it’s not even shoebox) Mezzanine added, Marble Arch was split in 5, and now the Empire itself ended up with more small auditoria. And all theatres are more or less showing the same films. And that’s because of distributors policy : flood every street corner with the same films, so that the customer doesn’t have to walk very long from their tube station to see the film.

And what films! Hollywood crap is getting crappier, as marketing aims exclusively for investment security, so all studios eventually come up with the same films, same structure, same plot baseline and characters display. You now have the feeling to see the same film over and over, and big action/crime/sci-fi movies are not even as half-exciting and original as they were still in the eighties and mid-nineties. Go figure why attendances are dropping everywhere.

I loved to go to West End theatres when I was a kid and student (let’s say from 1980 on to the mid-nineties) but that’s over now. I’m not Brit, I’m a Belgian who enjoy coming to London almost every year since childhood (because my parents had English friends here). Now, I tend to avoid the overcrowded Leicester Square like the plague and films displayed on the big theatre fronts leave me indifferent at such an extent that I wouldn’t even pay a ticket there just to enjoy the big old-style theatre. If I lived in London, I’d probably stick to the Curzon circuit to see the films I like, except perhaps for a Star Wars or a James Bond episode which I still love to see on the big screen.

Add to this, video-on-demand, Netflix, web piracy and distributors policy. In USA major theatre circuits, distributors eat 100% of film revenues during the first two weeks. Theatres would go bankrupt if they didn’t sell popcorn and soft drinks. In 1993, profits from concession stands accounted for 17% of the Empire’s revenues. Distributors are now fighting theatre chains to release films through the Internet the same day they’re released in theatres. How can a theatre be profitable?

There is a solution. In a big city like London, have one theatre like the former single-screen Empire or the former single-screen Odeon Marble Arch. Give it something special : showmanship starting with how the auditorium looks like (lights, style and colors instead of black walls/ceiling/floor/seats giving the impression of watching a film in a mortuary, curtains, who said laser show?), 70mm or 4K, all for the exclusive engagement of a good quality film. With projectionists knowing how to properly adjust picture scaling, screen masking and sound volume. But this will never happen, because it’s against the distributors business model and it requires what theatre circuits no longer have : a culture of West End theatres, which is how Leicester Square cinemas were still run until twenty years ago. Now they are run like suburban shopping malls.

This is how I see the future of cinemas : theatres as we know them will all close. Burger King, Pizza Hut and Angus Steak House will install a screen hanging from the ceiling. Of course, projectors will be 8K and there will be a powerful subwoofer under each table. So powerfool that clients will go vomit their dinner in the new laser-aligned toilets.

Cjbx11
Cjbx11 on August 31, 2017 at 1:02 am

I’m really not a fan of this cinema at all. The old Empire 1 was a great cinema but the IMAX screen I find uncomfortable and strangely clostraphobic. After my last visit (which will probably be my last visit) I’ve never been so glad to leave a cinema. I would also question the economic argument for converting this cinema to IMAX. When you consider the many months of closure and loss of revenue plus the huge cost of this conversion caused by the major structural problems I think it will be many years before this conversion comes close to showing a profit. Maybe that’s why the previous owners were glad to offload it. I do feel bitter about it as what was a truly unique cinema has been replaced by something that could really have been built anywhere.

CF100
CF100 on August 25, 2017 at 11:03 pm

Given the Cineworld rendering, this photo ought to give an idea of what the walls of the new foyer might look like:

Cineworld corridor photo

(I am not sure what location this is, as the text overlay on the image ‘slideshow’ says that it’s at the ‘Resort World at the NEC Birmingham,’ but the filename says ‘Milton Keynes.’)

The interior design of this and other sites seems to be constructed from the ‘parts bin’ of Cineworld’s current ‘house style.’ Note that the linked image is on the website of Lyons + Sleeman + Hoare Architects, and it turns out that Cineworld have their own in-house architects also.

Cineworld’s ‘next generation’ foyer/corridors are looking good. If only their auditorium designs were more interesting than, say, a black box with an illuminated red star logo on each side wall!

Zappomatic: Odd indeed, maybe they are getting in there via the ductwork? I hope they offered refunds, or at least a goodwill gesture, to customers attending ridiculous ‘trapped fly’ screenings!

IIRC operators have had to come up with their own ‘ad hoc’ solutions for projection cabinets in ‘boothless’ auditoria, but off the shelf products are now becoming available.

The seats in the IMAX and IMPACT/Superscreen are from Seating Concepts. I have to wonder if the seating business has entered a race to the bottom using commodity parts sourced from China. Products from different manufacturers look very similar but don’t appear to be of real commerical ‘heavy duty’ spec.

Zappomatic
Zappomatic on August 25, 2017 at 4:34 pm

Yep, flies! The smaller studio type screens all have their projector in a little box slung from the ceiling at the back, and on at least three occasions I’ve experienced a fly trapped inside casting a blurry shadow on the screen every time it flew around. Going by complaints on social media it’s a recurring issue, particularly in screen 8 for some reason.

Sagging padding aside I still prefer the seats Empire installed in the IMAX and Impact/Superscreen here over the Lino Sonego seats Cineworld are putting in their large format screens – they look the part but aren’t especially comfortable.

CF100
CF100 on August 24, 2017 at 9:08 pm

Thanks (as well) Lionel for those photos, I have fond memories of those days!

Indeed there is nothing like the 80s! The fibre-optic ‘starfields’ were a wonderful addition, though not all the changes to the foyer were in good taste…

Zappomatic: They will sort out the seats; I didn’t explicitly ask about the timeframe or press for more details, but I got the impression that they plan on a full refurb of all auditoria. Not making ‘band-aid’ changes to seating upholstery may suggest that it will all be changing.

The Cineworld interim report shows that they have phased overhauls of all sites acquired from Empire, so at this point it could be next year, I’d guess?

The seats in the IMAX auditorium aren’t as comfortable as they were when new; the padding seems to have sagged a bit. I’m not sure their quality is better than my own ‘premium’ (but not ‘uber-expensive’) office chair—super comfortable when new but merely comfortable enough after a while!

Flies in the projection enclosures?! Silhouettes on the screen?

Zappomatic
Zappomatic on August 24, 2017 at 5:16 pm

Thank you CF100 and Lionel for those photos, great to compare the old and the current. They certainly went with a blingy, in your face look back in the late 80s!

Wonder how long the Empire and Pepsi Max logos will linger on on the seats in IMAX and Superscreen, if Cineworld aren’t touching the other auditoriums just yet?

The smaller auditoriums are generally in good shape, they just need to fix the masking in a couple of them and replace or deep clean the carpet (possibly change the carpet in the rows to a hard surface). And maybe sort out the issue they keep having with flies getting trapped inside the projector enclosures!