AMC Empire 25
234 W. 42nd Street,
New York,
NY
10036
234 W. 42nd Street,
New York,
NY
10036
80 people
favorited this theater
Showing 351 - 375 of 785 comments
This marknyla guy seems to have a thing about the theatre. it was closed while they got rid of a bed bug problem. The place is packed. And renting out to church groups? the BB King theatre across the streets does Sunday Gospell that so so loud you can hear it down the block.
I was there the other night and it is starting to look a bit shabby…
i agree. They often have exclusive engagements of movies before anyone else alongside major cities…the building is amazing outside when compared to the regal across the street. I remember when this theater opened in 2000 the New York Times ran an ad promoting the chain’s entry into New York City. Not only did this theater showed arthouse and mainstream fare but they had a classic movie program at the time.
This theatre busiest in the nation I doubt this is in any danger of closing .
http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/1/7478987/box-office-attendance-hits-lowest-level-in-19-years they used a photo of the amc logo sign.
Belay that last post. Showtimes now up, but “theatre outage” note still there. Hmmm.
Does anyone have any idea what is happening at this place? There are no showtimes scheduled after tonight, and there is a cryptic note on their website about a “theatre outage” but no further information. I know this place isn’t getting the business it once did, but could it finally be over, or just another bedbug fumigation?
Renting auditoriums out to church groups on Sunday mornings? So what, who the heck would be going to movies on Sunday mornings anyway? Sounds like a smart business decision to me.
Resident’s of Manhattan do not seem to go to matinee’s. I usually go Saturday or Sunday afternoon for that reason. Don’t Have to put up with crowds.Try an evening show. The place is packed. The same with the Regal across the street. Afternoons are a ghost town.
Please supply some substantiation for your claim that “To this day it’s still the busiest theater in America …” That MAY have been true at one time, but in recent days has fallen back to booking a few hits and some arthouse titles, along with a great deal of Bollywood and some obscure films no-one has ever of heard of that are booked on a four-wall basis. They are renting out auditoriums to church groups every Sunday morning due to lack of business. On a recent visit on a Sunday afternoon, the theater was deserted, filthy and understaffed, with only one concession stand open. This USED to be a busy place, but those days appear to be long gone.
In April of next year it will be 15 years since this theater was opened. To this day it’s still the busiest theater in America due to its number of screens and exclusive engagements of indie and mainstream movies before nationwide releases. It was the second megaplex to open in Times Square, the first being the E-Walk in 1999. During its opening in 2000, this theater occasionally showed classic movies in the smaller screens while showing the latest blockbusters on the bigger screens.
And it’s $8. for movies starting before noon, slightly higher for 3D or IMAX movies.
On my third visit yesterday I had more time to look around. I had not realized as you ride the escalators to the upper floors there is a brick wall to your left. This is the side outer wall of the original theatre building which is now the lobby. The imprint of a former fire escape is clearly visible. The theatre is truly amazing and is kept very clean. The ticket price is up to $14.50 but luckily I had an AMC gift card.
From 2013 a night time photo of the EMPIRE’S neon sign.
Probably, that and the area is on lockdown after a certain point with security check points, etc – and once it reaches a certain capacity they close the street – thus, I doubt anybody would want to deal with the those crowds, just to see a movie one NYE.
(Then again you could be stopped and frisked anytime you’re walking down the street in NYC! – thanks Mike Bloomberg!)
The lobby (and those great outdoor patios) are taken over and I believe the NYE party offers a variety of packages, etc on each level – I believe a private organization rents the space from AMC.
By the time NYE rolls around I have very little energy to party truth be told, but I did look into this out of curiosity (I believe the package also included a pass into the secure zone should the NYPD close the area to the general public – those going somewhere were permitted in).
It is mandated by the city.
Actually, to address the New Years Eve issue, for many years that I can remember, all the theatres in the radius of streets where the times square celebration takes place closed after 6 pm that day. Im not sure if it was mandated by the city, but I know it was for crowd control and such. You wouldn’t want a packed movie theatre emptying out at midnight into a crowd that big. That practice has been going on for years.
very interesting fact hdtv267. I’m sure they do the same to the E-Walk.
The old legit Empire was never air conditioned. I remember during the run of Wish You Were Here, they brought in dry ice to put in front of the fans.
Hi Flynn… The theatre described and depicted on that page is a different, legitimate play house, which was located a couple of blocks away from the AMC Empire, at Broadway between West 40th and 41st Streets. It is not listed on CT because I don’t believe it ever hosted cinematic exhibitions – at least not on a regular basis. There is a page devoted to the old house here on the ibdb.com website.
Hello folks. I’ve been looking for something else, but keep on finding ither things by accident. This website has a few very old images of the theater along with historical information. Just passing through to share.
http://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2011/10/lost-1893-empire-theatre-broadway-at.html
Looks like Wanda group is buying AMC for 2.6 billion making them the largest cinema corporation in the world.
“Profitable IMAX screen”
I have never heard those words before, in that order.
The Lincoln Square is one of the highest grossing theatres in the U.S., in spite of the IMAX.
Profit or volume are never an excuse for a sloppy operation.
I agree. The Rockaway and Garden State theaters as well as clifton commons are like big cookie cutter megaplexes with overhyped movies and few indie movies. The only theater that AMC operates well is the AMC in Lincoln Square, due to its profitable IMAX screen, which is still the largest in NYC.
Saw “Marvel’s The Avengers” in their IMAX-lite auditorium. (Screen #1) Some of the staff here are very rude, for example, I was filming a 360-turnaround of the third floor on my phone, and this lady blocked my camera lenses telling me that I wasn’t allowed to film the employees, or something like that. Sheesh, it isn’t like filming a movie at the cinema! Also, the lines for the concessions are WAYY too slow. A few people in line trying to get snacks felt like 30. Anyways, the IMAX auditorium is pretty nice, in some ways superior to the IMAX-lite in the AMC Tyson’s Corner 16. On the other hand, the Empire IMAX felt like a joke. There was this constant rattling noise during moments with a lot of bass (thankfully this only happened during the trailers) and some of speakers were popping. At least it sounds like it was calibrated more accurately, unlike the ear-splitting EQ of the Tysons IMAX.
The AMC Empire 25 is almost like a big parody of your typical multiplex. Although I’ve never been to the other 24 screens, it’s scope favors quantity over quality at a glance.