If there was no uplift charge for IMAX (rather than Superscreen) would you be asking Cineworld to take your money (for an Unlimited West End card)? ;o)
“My favourite non-IMAX large format screen is the Superscreen at Cineworld Leicester Square – it’s 0.5m narrower than the O2 one but is taller (1.9 ratio) and has an absolutely superb Dolby Atmos set up.”
You’ll like this particular t&c as I know you’re a big fan of Cineworld, Leicester Square’s Superscreen:
19.6 Cineworld Leicester Square Superscreen at no extra cost for West End Unlimited Members offer:
Superscreen uplifts are currently not payable by West End Unlimited Members at Cineworld Leicester Square. 3D (where applicable), D-Box, IMAX, 4DX, VIP and event cinema uplifts are still payable. Charges apply for 3D glasses and Box/Star/Balcony and other special or premium seating as they are not included as part of Unlimited Membership.
After having a Cineworld Unlimited card for over 12 months your standard red card will be replaced by a premium black one which will entitle you to extra benefits including no uplift charge for 3D movies and 25% off food/drink instead of 10% off.
My mistake must have got my wires crossed thinking that Meerkat Movies excluded Vue West End and Cineworld, Leicester Square instead of other promotions (Tesco Clubcard points converted into Cineworld ticket vouchers and discounted ticket vouchers for Cineworld and Vue purchased via Co-Op Mid-Counties member services for example) which definitely exclude those West End flagship cinemas.
12 months of Meerkat Movies can be obtained by purchasing a single days travel insurance within the UK for less than a few pounds! ;o)
I feel your pain! Almost all discount/promotions on tickets offered by cinema chains always seem to exclude Vue, West End and Cineworld, Leicester Square. Even Meerkat Movies 2-4-1. Guess they feel London residents are wealthy enough to pay sky high West End prices and don’t require any discounts and the same applies to those visiting the Capital!
A number of Vue cinemas (~44 Vue cinemas nationwide) have introduced £4.99 (or £5.99 depending on location) pricing for all 2D seats and £3.99 on Super Saver Mondays (requires registering for free on the Vue website after which they supply you with a unique code which you can use each week to purchase up to 10 tickets).
Participating £4.99 Vue Cinemas: Aberdeen, Barrow, Bedford, Birmingham Star City, Bristol Longwell Green, Bury, Carlisle, Cheshire Oaks, Cleveleys, Darlington, Farnborough, Gateshead, Halifax, Hamilton, Hartlepool, Hull, Inverness, Lancaster, Livingston, Leeds Kirkstall, Leeds Light, Leicester, Manchester Lowry, Manchester Printworks, Merthyr, Norwich, Oxford, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Reading, Romford, Southport, Swansea, Thanet and York.
Purchase a ticket for a 2D film in a standard seat and you will pay only £4.99.
Additional 75p booking fee per ticket applies to tickets purchased online via myvue.com and via our call centre.
Additional charges apply for films shown in IMAX or Xtreme screens (no Xtreme upgrade charge at Plymouth), 3D screenings, 3D glasses, VIP seating upgrades and upgrades to the Manchester Printworks Scene bar with all-inclusive food and drink.
I asked a member of staff about this offer and was told that initially, it’s a 6-month trial but if it is popular it could become permanent and since it had been introduced they had been a lot busier. Good news and hopefully more locations will be included. Cinemas make very little from ticket sales due to the percentage film studios take, all overheads including wages are paid from the profit made on food/drink sales.
Talking of THX certified cinemas didn’t realise until earlier today that the AMC Broadway Plaza 12 (now Odeon, Broadway Plaza in Birmingham) was originally THX certified.
Can anyone confirm the size of the IMAX at this cinema, I have two notes (26.3m by 18.8m and 17.94m x 9.58m) and not sure which is correct?
Any more information regarding the upgrade to IMAX with Laser now that we’re halfway through 2018? It’s certainly not listed on the official IMAX site as being a location where IMAX with Laser has been installed.
Unless I’m mistaken this is the sixth largest IMAX screen in the UK (23.91m x 12.92m) and only the second to have IMAX with Laser installed. 15 rows x 43 seats.
Just looked at the seating layout for screen 10 (IMAX) and it has 14 rows x 44 seats (back row only, main width is around 38 seats wide) which makes it one of the widest IMAX auditoria in the UK.
Does anyone happen to know the screen dimensions? Really wish Cineworld would provide more auditoria info on their website like Odeon does.
Birmingham seems to be well catered for cinema wise and with the recent major renovation of Odeon, Broadway Plaza into Odeon Luxe and the UK’s largest flagship multiplex it could well be the place to visit outside of the Capital.
Odeon Plaza has been fully refurbished into the UK’s largest luxury cinema, work was completed on 11/06/18 when all 12 screens were converted into bespoke theatres. Originally 2,909 seats when AMC opened the site in 2000. Odeon took over in 2012 but now seating capacity has been reduced to 1,264, each and everyone being a soft padded leather seat with electric recliner and triple legroom.
More information regarding the massive refurbishment:
Looking at the Auditorium Info page on the Odeon website, I cannot see any mention of an iSense screen. But, I then clicked on iSense and looked through the list of cinemas in the drop-down menu and sure enough, Milton Keynes Stadium is listed. From there I clicked through the two movies being shown and discovered that screens 1 & 11 both have iSense screens and Dolby Atmos systems installed. Odeon really should update their Auditorium Info on that cinema’s page.
This multiplex only actually has 11-screens, screens 12 to 16 are just the Gallery seat sections to other screens. Which threw me at first seeing so many screens each with very few listed seats.
Well, I shall certainly try and visit this cinema to check out both the IMAX and iSense screens.
£15 in parking for one movie (likely to be over 2 hours including adverts and trailers) is outrageous imo. From the sounds of things this is by no means a flagship cinema and therefore I don’t think I’ll be rushing to visit it anytime soon.
It is not IMAX with Laser. The only two UK cinemas to have that installed are Cineworld (formerly Empire Cinemas) Leicester Square and Cineworld, Sheffield.
Does anyone happen to know the size of the IMAX screen at this cinema?
Have been meaning to check out this cinema but each time a friend of mine has mentioned that car parking is really expensive so instead we have ended up at Vue, North Finchley. Vue, Westfield Shepherds Bush was the last place we paid for car parking when watching a movie and £8 for anything over 2 hours just adds to the cost of admission. We’ve chosen Vue Xtreme at that cinema a couple of times but have left disappointed compared to IMAX. The last movie was Ready Player One which was in scope and because the screen was 1.85:1 around one third of the height is lost due to the black bars which kind of defeats the whole…’as tall as two double decker buses’ advertising.
Does anyone happen to know the size of the IMAX screen (screen 8) at this cinema? It has one of the largest auditoria (15 rows x 36 seats) of any of the IMAX screens I have visited.
60 feet (18.29m) wide, if indeed that is the size of the IMAX screen at Showcase Cinema de Luxe, Bluewater, is the same width as Cineworld, Hemel Hempstead. It seats 281 versus ~450 so I expected a larger screen. Will certainly watch a movie there and possibly also one in XPlus although I may save doing the latter in Showcase Cinema de Luxe, Southampton instead.
Thanks again for sharing some interesting info, I must say I do very much enjoy reading your posts. ;o)
Added this to my list of cinemas to visit. I seem to recall watching one movie at this cinema in one of the small auditoria in the mid to late 90’s. Was shopping in Bluewater, hadn’t planned on watching a movie and had already seen the major new releases elsewhere. IIRC the seats seemed comfy (blue velour?) but that’s about all that I came away thinking at the time.
Does anyone know the size of the IMAX screen (screen 4)? Seems an unsual decision to have both an IMAX screen and a XPlus screen (Showcase’s own proprietary large format) in the same cinema as they are two competing large screen formats.
Presumably, the new screens are auditoria 13 to 17 and use Barco laser projection (which is used at Showcase Cinema de Luxe, Southampton)? Their website just lists Sony 4K projection.
Spent some time clicking through almost all of the current movies being shown to get an idea of the auditoria sizes and most seem pretty decent, certainly for a 17-screen multiplex. Screen 4 (IMAX) seems the largest with of 15 rows x 31 seats. Screen 3 has 16 rows x 28 seats. Screen 15 (XPlus) has 11 rows x 29 seats. The smallest screen seems to be screen 7 which is 10 rows x 11 seats followed by screens 13 & 14 which are Event screens I believe where they show opera performances etc.
Signed up to Showcase Insider which is free and entitles you to discounted tickets on Sunday after 7pm and all day Monday and Tuesday. Also, you earn 10% back in rewards on ticket and food/drink purchases. They also accept Meerkat Movies 2-4-1 on Tuesdays/Wednesdays. Regular ticket prices seem reasonable (cheap compared to the West End, London!).
Don’t often head out towards Dartford but this cinema seems like it warrants a special trip!
Seen as Dolby have recently made the announcement of opening seven Dolby Cinema sites in the UK in collaboration with Odeon cinemas why not also confirm if indeed Odeon, Leicester Square is to be the first such Dolby Cinema?
Surely it would create even more of a buzz rather than if it is kept under wraps until any announcements regarding the re-opening of OLS take place?
If there was no uplift charge for IMAX (rather than Superscreen) would you be asking Cineworld to take your money (for an Unlimited West End card)? ;o)
Wonder what the thinking behind renumbering the screen numbers is?
Sorry, it was zappomatic who posted:
“My favourite non-IMAX large format screen is the Superscreen at Cineworld Leicester Square – it’s 0.5m narrower than the O2 one but is taller (1.9 ratio) and has an absolutely superb Dolby Atmos set up.”
I cannot guarantee that these uplift charges will be the same for Cineworld, Leicester Square but it will at least give you an idea of what to expect:
https://www.cineworld.co.uk/xmedia-cw/repo/sites/info/Uplift%20prices%20Sheffield.pdf
You’ll like this particular t&c as I know you’re a big fan of Cineworld, Leicester Square’s Superscreen:
19.6 Cineworld Leicester Square Superscreen at no extra cost for West End Unlimited Members offer:
Superscreen uplifts are currently not payable by West End Unlimited Members at Cineworld Leicester Square. 3D (where applicable), D-Box, IMAX, 4DX, VIP and event cinema uplifts are still payable. Charges apply for 3D glasses and Box/Star/Balcony and other special or premium seating as they are not included as part of Unlimited Membership.
After having a Cineworld Unlimited card for over 12 months your standard red card will be replaced by a premium black one which will entitle you to extra benefits including no uplift charge for 3D movies and 25% off food/drink instead of 10% off.
My mistake must have got my wires crossed thinking that Meerkat Movies excluded Vue West End and Cineworld, Leicester Square instead of other promotions (Tesco Clubcard points converted into Cineworld ticket vouchers and discounted ticket vouchers for Cineworld and Vue purchased via Co-Op Mid-Counties member services for example) which definitely exclude those West End flagship cinemas.
12 months of Meerkat Movies can be obtained by purchasing a single days travel insurance within the UK for less than a few pounds! ;o)
I feel your pain! Almost all discount/promotions on tickets offered by cinema chains always seem to exclude Vue, West End and Cineworld, Leicester Square. Even Meerkat Movies 2-4-1. Guess they feel London residents are wealthy enough to pay sky high West End prices and don’t require any discounts and the same applies to those visiting the Capital!
A number of Vue cinemas (~44 Vue cinemas nationwide) have introduced £4.99 (or £5.99 depending on location) pricing for all 2D seats and £3.99 on Super Saver Mondays (requires registering for free on the Vue website after which they supply you with a unique code which you can use each week to purchase up to 10 tickets).
Participating £4.99 Vue Cinemas: Aberdeen, Barrow, Bedford, Birmingham Star City, Bristol Longwell Green, Bury, Carlisle, Cheshire Oaks, Cleveleys, Darlington, Farnborough, Gateshead, Halifax, Hamilton, Hartlepool, Hull, Inverness, Lancaster, Livingston, Leeds Kirkstall, Leeds Light, Leicester, Manchester Lowry, Manchester Printworks, Merthyr, Norwich, Oxford, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Reading, Romford, Southport, Swansea, Thanet and York.
Purchase a ticket for a 2D film in a standard seat and you will pay only £4.99.
Additional 75p booking fee per ticket applies to tickets purchased online via myvue.com and via our call centre.
Additional charges apply for films shown in IMAX or Xtreme screens (no Xtreme upgrade charge at Plymouth), 3D screenings, 3D glasses, VIP seating upgrades and upgrades to the Manchester Printworks Scene bar with all-inclusive food and drink.
Participating £5.99 Vue cinemas: Bicester, Bristol Cribbs, Croydon Grants, Croydon Purley Way, Edinburgh Omni, Harrow, Leamington Spa, Staines and Wood Green.
https://www.myvue.com/legal/terms-and-conditions
I asked a member of staff about this offer and was told that initially, it’s a 6-month trial but if it is popular it could become permanent and since it had been introduced they had been a lot busier. Good news and hopefully more locations will be included. Cinemas make very little from ticket sales due to the percentage film studios take, all overheads including wages are paid from the profit made on food/drink sales.
Talking of THX certified cinemas didn’t realise until earlier today that the AMC Broadway Plaza 12 (now Odeon, Broadway Plaza in Birmingham) was originally THX certified.
Was that screen (70 feet wide) then converted to it’s current IMAX screen or was it a different auditoria altogether?
Can anyone confirm the size of the IMAX at this cinema, I have two notes (26.3m by 18.8m and 17.94m x 9.58m) and not sure which is correct?
Any more information regarding the upgrade to IMAX with Laser now that we’re halfway through 2018? It’s certainly not listed on the official IMAX site as being a location where IMAX with Laser has been installed.
Unless I’m mistaken this is the sixth largest IMAX screen in the UK (23.91m x 12.92m) and only the second to have IMAX with Laser installed. 15 rows x 43 seats.
Shame it’s so far away!
Just looked at the seating layout for screen 10 (IMAX) and it has 14 rows x 44 seats (back row only, main width is around 38 seats wide) which makes it one of the widest IMAX auditoria in the UK.
Does anyone happen to know the screen dimensions? Really wish Cineworld would provide more auditoria info on their website like Odeon does.
Didn’t realise this cinema was one of the first purpose-built IMAX screens for a while back in 2015.
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/film-news/resorts-world-cineworld-cinemas-imax-10118026
Birmingham seems to be well catered for cinema wise and with the recent major renovation of Odeon, Broadway Plaza into Odeon Luxe and the UK’s largest flagship multiplex it could well be the place to visit outside of the Capital.
Odeon Plaza has been fully refurbished into the UK’s largest luxury cinema, work was completed on 11/06/18 when all 12 screens were converted into bespoke theatres. Originally 2,909 seats when AMC opened the site in 2000. Odeon took over in 2012 but now seating capacity has been reduced to 1,264, each and everyone being a soft padded leather seat with electric recliner and triple legroom.
More information regarding the massive refurbishment:
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/film-news/odeons-giant-broadway-plaza-being-14707959
Screen 2 (iSense) is 17.94m x 9.58m high and has 361 seats. Not sure but this may well be the largest iSense screen in the UK?
This cinema is high on my list of ones to visit in the near future.
Looking at the Auditorium Info page on the Odeon website, I cannot see any mention of an iSense screen. But, I then clicked on iSense and looked through the list of cinemas in the drop-down menu and sure enough, Milton Keynes Stadium is listed. From there I clicked through the two movies being shown and discovered that screens 1 & 11 both have iSense screens and Dolby Atmos systems installed. Odeon really should update their Auditorium Info on that cinema’s page.
This multiplex only actually has 11-screens, screens 12 to 16 are just the Gallery seat sections to other screens. Which threw me at first seeing so many screens each with very few listed seats.
Well, I shall certainly try and visit this cinema to check out both the IMAX and iSense screens.
£15 in parking for one movie (likely to be over 2 hours including adverts and trailers) is outrageous imo. From the sounds of things this is by no means a flagship cinema and therefore I don’t think I’ll be rushing to visit it anytime soon.
Thanks for the info.
Nice, finally an IMAX screen outside of London that is (marginally) bigger than Cineworld, Hemel Hempstead and within travelling distance.
Might watch Mission Impossible: Fallout in IMAX there.
It is not IMAX with Laser. The only two UK cinemas to have that installed are Cineworld (formerly Empire Cinemas) Leicester Square and Cineworld, Sheffield.
Does anyone happen to know the size of the IMAX screen at this cinema?
Have been meaning to check out this cinema but each time a friend of mine has mentioned that car parking is really expensive so instead we have ended up at Vue, North Finchley. Vue, Westfield Shepherds Bush was the last place we paid for car parking when watching a movie and £8 for anything over 2 hours just adds to the cost of admission. We’ve chosen Vue Xtreme at that cinema a couple of times but have left disappointed compared to IMAX. The last movie was Ready Player One which was in scope and because the screen was 1.85:1 around one third of the height is lost due to the black bars which kind of defeats the whole…’as tall as two double decker buses’ advertising.
Does anyone happen to know the size of the IMAX screen (screen 8) at this cinema? It has one of the largest auditoria (15 rows x 36 seats) of any of the IMAX screens I have visited.
60 feet (18.29m) wide, if indeed that is the size of the IMAX screen at Showcase Cinema de Luxe, Bluewater, is the same width as Cineworld, Hemel Hempstead. It seats 281 versus ~450 so I expected a larger screen. Will certainly watch a movie there and possibly also one in XPlus although I may save doing the latter in Showcase Cinema de Luxe, Southampton instead.
Thanks again for sharing some interesting info, I must say I do very much enjoy reading your posts. ;o)
Added this to my list of cinemas to visit. I seem to recall watching one movie at this cinema in one of the small auditoria in the mid to late 90’s. Was shopping in Bluewater, hadn’t planned on watching a movie and had already seen the major new releases elsewhere. IIRC the seats seemed comfy (blue velour?) but that’s about all that I came away thinking at the time.
Does anyone know the size of the IMAX screen (screen 4)? Seems an unsual decision to have both an IMAX screen and a XPlus screen (Showcase’s own proprietary large format) in the same cinema as they are two competing large screen formats.
Presumably, the new screens are auditoria 13 to 17 and use Barco laser projection (which is used at Showcase Cinema de Luxe, Southampton)? Their website just lists Sony 4K projection.
Spent some time clicking through almost all of the current movies being shown to get an idea of the auditoria sizes and most seem pretty decent, certainly for a 17-screen multiplex. Screen 4 (IMAX) seems the largest with of 15 rows x 31 seats. Screen 3 has 16 rows x 28 seats. Screen 15 (XPlus) has 11 rows x 29 seats. The smallest screen seems to be screen 7 which is 10 rows x 11 seats followed by screens 13 & 14 which are Event screens I believe where they show opera performances etc.
Signed up to Showcase Insider which is free and entitles you to discounted tickets on Sunday after 7pm and all day Monday and Tuesday. Also, you earn 10% back in rewards on ticket and food/drink purchases. They also accept Meerkat Movies 2-4-1 on Tuesdays/Wednesdays. Regular ticket prices seem reasonable (cheap compared to the West End, London!).
Don’t often head out towards Dartford but this cinema seems like it warrants a special trip!
Seen as Dolby have recently made the announcement of opening seven Dolby Cinema sites in the UK in collaboration with Odeon cinemas why not also confirm if indeed Odeon, Leicester Square is to be the first such Dolby Cinema?
Surely it would create even more of a buzz rather than if it is kept under wraps until any announcements regarding the re-opening of OLS take place?
@CF100
I even posted on the Showcase de Luxe Southampton page a few days ago whilst doing some quick research in laser projection in UK cinemas.
Need to visit that cinema plus Odeon, Bournemouth (BH2).
Can you please post a link to Showcase Westquay as I can’t seem to find it using the search box?
Thanks.