Absolutely baffled by the design choice of the extended foyer: a vast expanse of glittery red and black flooring, dimly lit with a few sofas around the edge. Seems very strange not to have used this space for a Starbucks and/or a bar.
Tickets for the new 4DX screen are now on sale, for Avengers Endgame. It has 152 seats plus two wheelchair spaces spread across 10 rows.
Tickets are also on sale for VIP. VIP 1 has 61 seats plus 1 wheelchair space across 6 rows. VIP 2 is the same in a mirror image layout. VIP 3 has 56 seats plus 1 wheelchair space across 6 rows (curiously this screen seems to have been configured wrongly in the booking system so no premium over regular screens is being charged – will be interesting to see if they honour bookings)
This unit has in the past been used as an ice cream kiosk (as seen here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_Cinemas#/media/File:EmpireLeicesterSquare.jpg)
The cinema extension doesn’t look anywhere near ready to open, with a hole still in the outer wall and the interior still showing bare plasterboard. (See photo added today)
CF100: No, not as far as I can recall. I can only imagine some kind of leak or major spillage necessitated its replacement. (The auditorium was quite dark when I entered and I nearly fell over after being caught unawares by the deep pile!)
Carpet at the front of the Superscreen has been replaced, to match the carpet in the corridor and other screens. Carpet on the steps inside this screen remains in the old red carpet as fitted by Empire Cinemas.
Following a campaign, this cinema is now grade II listed: https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/2018/londons-empire-cinema-home-kneehighs-brief-encounter-granted-listed-status-following-campaign/
The shopping centre it sits in is being redeveloped – plans do include a replacement cinema at basement level: http://whiteleysdevelopment.co.uk/development.php
Scaffolding and barrier material has been removed from the front of the building revealing a gaping hole where once there was glass. It’s possible to see scaffolding inside the auditorium (photos added)
The seating is newer than the blue flooring so they must have decided retain it in the refurb. In screens 1-10 the seats, lighting and carpet are new. Ceiling, hard flooring, hand rails and wall coverings (including the bulges housing the surrounds) are all from the original fit-out for Vue.
The blue vinyl flooring and grey handrails in the screens here are all left over from the original fit-out, which is why they perhaps look slightly out of place.
That’s an impressively large screen but does look a bit like a temporary set of scaffolding! Shame the masking has gone.
The canopy lighting was installed just prior to Brief Encounter. From the photos the seats are not new but in fact the old ones with covers fitted over the top, done for Brief Encounter.
Skyscape was a temporary structure and dismantled after the Millennium Experience closed. I believe it actually ran as two side by side 2,500 seated cinemas and could be used as one large space for live performances.
Ventilation grilles above the ScreenX projectors are new and slightly above existing ceiling level.
The carpet on the steps inside the auditorium is new, it’s just the linoleum/vinyl flooring in the rows that remains from the original fit out plus wall coverings.
Nothing from the interior of the Millennium Experience was kept, all structures inside the O2 including the Superscreen (originally called Screen 11) were purpose built. I would imagine AEG built screen 11 on such a huge scale plus green room facilities with an eye to hosting premieres.
LARGE_screen_format: The auditoria at the O2 are quite well lit so I just touch the screen in a few different places to find the best exposure level, and then see what difference auto enhance makes. If I’ve arrived after the adverts have started I wait for a bright one, ideally with a white background – Red Bull or Old Mout Cider adverts are ideal!
For a long time this cinema was a strange mish-mash of house styles. Even as a Vue the carpet and seats weren’t typical and then for some years under Cineworld much of the signage was still in the Vue font, and you had the bespoke Sky Superscreen Bar fit-out to add to the confusion.
The “purple” wall coverings you mentioned in a previous post are in fact a midnight blue colour and are part of the original decor, unaltered in Cineworld’s recent refurbishment. Also still remaining is blue floor covering in the rows (which matched with the original blue carpet) and a couple of blue spotlights in the screen entrance areas. At the foot of the escalator down from the upper screens there’s an area of cream floor tiles beyond a railing, also from the original fit-out.
Just a thought, since Cineworld’s refurb increased the Superscreen’s seatcount and with Odeon Leicester Square closed for refurbishment, is the O2 Superscreen currently the UK’s largest dedicated cinema auditorium by seating capacity?
Screen 16 is an impressively large wall to wall scope screen. The 4DX is flat. I am yet to try the other new screens.
I didn’t notice any effects on the sound but they certainly were noticeably reflective in brighter scenes in the film.
Superscreen logos have been added to the side walls of the Superscreen
Ground floor: Starbucks to become a restaurant/cafe. Historical display in foyer. New rubber floor in foyer.
First floor: circle bar to become private hire/dancing. First floor foyer to become a bar and lounge with original parquet flooring restored.
Looks like screens will be re-stepped, reducing (but not eliminating) the asymmetrical nature of screens 1 and 2.
Screen 1: 5330x9660, 1.81 Screen 2: 5082x9200, 1.18 Screen 3: 2470x5730, 2.34, 141 seats Screen 4: 3100x7250, 2.34, 176 seats Screen 5: 3100x7250, 2.34, 174 seats Screen 6: Details not shown on planning application
Opened on 7 June 2019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G57tji7YCaY
Absolutely baffled by the design choice of the extended foyer: a vast expanse of glittery red and black flooring, dimly lit with a few sofas around the edge. Seems very strange not to have used this space for a Starbucks and/or a bar.
Screen 13: 157 seats across 10 rows with a slightly off-centre aisle
Further details for currently bookable screens:
Screen 12: 309 seats across 13 rows all in a single block plus 4 wheelchair spaces Screen 16: 442 seats across 17 rows with an aisle by the entrance
Tickets for the new 4DX screen are now on sale, for Avengers Endgame. It has 152 seats plus two wheelchair spaces spread across 10 rows.
Tickets are also on sale for VIP. VIP 1 has 61 seats plus 1 wheelchair space across 6 rows. VIP 2 is the same in a mirror image layout. VIP 3 has 56 seats plus 1 wheelchair space across 6 rows (curiously this screen seems to have been configured wrongly in the booking system so no premium over regular screens is being charged – will be interesting to see if they honour bookings)
This unit has in the past been used as an ice cream kiosk (as seen here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_Cinemas#/media/File:EmpireLeicesterSquare.jpg)
The cinema extension doesn’t look anywhere near ready to open, with a hole still in the outer wall and the interior still showing bare plasterboard. (See photo added today)
CF100: No, not as far as I can recall. I can only imagine some kind of leak or major spillage necessitated its replacement. (The auditorium was quite dark when I entered and I nearly fell over after being caught unawares by the deep pile!)
Carpet at the front of the Superscreen has been replaced, to match the carpet in the corridor and other screens. Carpet on the steps inside this screen remains in the old red carpet as fitted by Empire Cinemas.
Following a campaign, this cinema is now grade II listed: https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/2018/londons-empire-cinema-home-kneehighs-brief-encounter-granted-listed-status-following-campaign/
The shopping centre it sits in is being redeveloped – plans do include a replacement cinema at basement level: http://whiteleysdevelopment.co.uk/development.php
Scaffolding and barrier material has been removed from the front of the building revealing a gaping hole where once there was glass. It’s possible to see scaffolding inside the auditorium (photos added)
The seating is newer than the blue flooring so they must have decided retain it in the refurb. In screens 1-10 the seats, lighting and carpet are new. Ceiling, hard flooring, hand rails and wall coverings (including the bulges housing the surrounds) are all from the original fit-out for Vue.
The blue vinyl flooring and grey handrails in the screens here are all left over from the original fit-out, which is why they perhaps look slightly out of place.
That’s an impressively large screen but does look a bit like a temporary set of scaffolding! Shame the masking has gone.
The canopy lighting was installed just prior to Brief Encounter. From the photos the seats are not new but in fact the old ones with covers fitted over the top, done for Brief Encounter.
Saw a film in screen 1 today – flat ratio, no masking however the stadium seating has a nice curve to it.
Skyscape was a temporary structure and dismantled after the Millennium Experience closed. I believe it actually ran as two side by side 2,500 seated cinemas and could be used as one large space for live performances.
Ventilation grilles above the ScreenX projectors are new and slightly above existing ceiling level.
The carpet on the steps inside the auditorium is new, it’s just the linoleum/vinyl flooring in the rows that remains from the original fit out plus wall coverings.
Nothing from the interior of the Millennium Experience was kept, all structures inside the O2 including the Superscreen (originally called Screen 11) were purpose built. I would imagine AEG built screen 11 on such a huge scale plus green room facilities with an eye to hosting premieres.
LARGE_screen_format: The auditoria at the O2 are quite well lit so I just touch the screen in a few different places to find the best exposure level, and then see what difference auto enhance makes. If I’ve arrived after the adverts have started I wait for a bright one, ideally with a white background – Red Bull or Old Mout Cider adverts are ideal!
For a long time this cinema was a strange mish-mash of house styles. Even as a Vue the carpet and seats weren’t typical and then for some years under Cineworld much of the signage was still in the Vue font, and you had the bespoke Sky Superscreen Bar fit-out to add to the confusion.
The “purple” wall coverings you mentioned in a previous post are in fact a midnight blue colour and are part of the original decor, unaltered in Cineworld’s recent refurbishment. Also still remaining is blue floor covering in the rows (which matched with the original blue carpet) and a couple of blue spotlights in the screen entrance areas. At the foot of the escalator down from the upper screens there’s an area of cream floor tiles beyond a railing, also from the original fit-out.
New seatcount will be 850 – 776 is the old figure before the balcony was reconfigured.
Just a thought, since Cineworld’s refurb increased the Superscreen’s seatcount and with Odeon Leicester Square closed for refurbishment, is the O2 Superscreen currently the UK’s largest dedicated cinema auditorium by seating capacity?