Thanks, Lionel. I can’t access the whole article due to it being paywalled.
It claims that cinemas “the rise of TVs and smartphones has turned routine trips to the flicks into a rarity,” but LSQ seemed to be doing very well indeed, sometimes very busy and with a “buzz” that reminscent of the early to mid 1990’s.
The old Empire 1 may have been, ahem, altered, and the new auditoria weren’t “the same”—but the IMAX still retained enough grandeur and magic—sitting in an optimum position (say row H)—the wide auditorium and arched ceiling, all bathed in light from concealed sources—it still felt like something unique and special—quite different to the usual multiplex “box.”
Who knows what the future holds now?
As for Cineworld, they had become too indebted to survive—they had some months of cash reserve, and then they would breach bank covenants. I guess they were able to hold on for a while, but the day has come when they can’t.
“COVID”—I continue to impose a high level of control to protect myself and others. Otherwise I am tired of hearing the latest figures and meandering interventions. All I can say is that the response at “state” level in the UK and many other countries has been amateur hour. The virus is not to be underestimated as trivial but it didn’t have to be this disasterous.
Glad to hear you’re safe. Have evaded the virus, but ended up with something that’s probably much worse in my case—a very nasty ankle injury from which I’m currently (slowly!) recovering.
Dark clouds are looming I’m afraid—it’s being reported Cineworld are to close all UK sites.
Will never be the same as visiting a cinema, but at least I acquired a nice Panasonic OLED a few months ago.
The Assistant Manager in charge of the ABC said jokingly to the staff as they were leaving at the end of the show: “Someone throw an oily rag on the Essoldo as they go past!”. Well, that night it went up in smoke! What a coincidence!
Modern cinemas can’t offer the magic any more. i.e curtains, masking and general lack of showmanship.
Whilst the tabs situation at the OLS is regrettable, and I know it’s not what you mean by “showmanship,” the “showmanship” at the OLS starts before entering the building. And what is something like the video display feature on the escalator landing if not showmanship? Or the entrance to the Royal Circle?
These help set the mood before the feature; one has escaped the outside world and stepped into wonderland…
It’s not hard to come up with market sectors that cinemas make for an attractive choice. Here are a couple of examples:
Younger professionals in urban settings, limited space in their dwelling, “active” out of home lifestyle… premium cinemas with quality bar/food areas for socialising, comfortable auditoria and suitably specialised programming.
Technologies that are virtually impossible to implement at home, e.g. 4DX. Yes, the serious cinephile will turn their nose up—but it was launched more than 10 years ago in Korea, and I bet that kids love it and pester their parents into visiting 4DX-equipped auditoria.
One could also point out the billion dollar box office takings of the various “tentpole” movies, or the success of “Unlimited” card programmes, etc…
The latest audio/visual formats for consumer distribution (e.g. Ultra HD Blu-ray) are fantastic and cinemas are definitely falling behind in some respects. Still, as an overall event that leaves an indelible mark, going to a cinema like the OLS is very different to watching a film at home.
I do think cinemas and the industry will adapt and change.
Currently, though, I’m just dreaming of the day that I can actually visit a cinema again…
I’m a bit scared that Amazon would now own Odeon because this megalodon is just getting bigger and bigger. Didn’t it want to create a bank too? AMC is currently owned by the Chinese. Curious how the outcome will look like.
Wanda Group (of China) does have a large stake in Odeon Group’s parent, AMC. However, they are massively indebted.
SethLewis: I can’t see there’s much room for price hikes at the top end of the market (IMAX/PLF/“Luxe”.) They can hardly start charging £30/ticket… (OK, OLS Royal Circle…)
Cineworld have emphatically stated that they do not want attrition of “Unlimited” subscribers and are rolling over subscriptions, and clearly they will all be super keen to lure customers back.
However… if “social distancing” means “2 metres” spacing then with “standard” seating this would seem to be unviable without a very dramatic reduction in capacity. Just considering one row, perhaps 3 empty seats would be needed either side—and then one needs to consider the adjacent rows. With a 2 metre radius circle, that might reduce capacity to rather less than 1/10th!
It would be more viable with recliners as the row spacing should be adequate.
The bad news is that studios are likely to only continue a me too strategy of superheroes and tentpoles. The good news is that that only companies with a reasonably low amount of debt will be around running cinemas – potentially more partnerships and tastemakers being involved. Love Netflix Love Prime but show me decent movies for adults in the cinema and I am there
Outside of the “tentpole” market, with movie budgets in the hundreds of millions of dollars range and the biggest titles shooting for billion dollar box office receipts, strictly sticking to the 100 year old movie distribution model hardly makes sense in a digital world.
I do think there is a lot of opportunity for new approaches outside of the studio “box.” It could be exciting rather than the demise of cinema. :–)
Lionel: As you may have heard, cinemas, pubs and other public venues are now compulsorily closed in the UK. :–( Leicester Square was featured in a news segment yesterday evening; it was almost empty. The reporter stood in Leicester Square Gardens with the OLS behind—how very odd to see it with all the lighting and LED module displays out of action.
Food retailers are stripped each day as if hit by locusts. Fortunately I had pre-booked a supermarket delivery and as of today we are now well stocked.
Let’s hope our favourite cinemas return back to business as usual at some point. Strange days indeed.
Regarding the sightlines in the OLS—come to think of it, I probably was not sitting in the last row of the rear stalls. I can’t even remember the movie now, though, let alone the aspect ratio. With the screen raised in the 2018 refurbishment, and the increased rake of the stalls, despite the rear wall being moved forward, sightlines to the top of the screen remain tight in the last row of the stalls.
This company claims to have supplied the black and red polished quartz “sparkle” floor tiles used in the refurbished lobbies. They are currently selling them at the price of £29.99 per sq. metre.
(Note: The quality of these quartz “sparkle” tile products seems to vary and I’ve never seen any on display that look quite like those I’ve seen in Cineworlds, and that price is rock bottom.)
The additional layer of acoustic tiles that were added during the 2006 sound system upgrade can clearly be seen here on top of the what were the existing tiles. (At this position, the added tiles stop short of the ceiling.)
I can’t help but wonder if there weren’t another set of tiles added in the 1988/9 refurb, too. Certainly one article said that a “whole replastering process took place” but it didn’t say what that meant or if it was simply was a reference to the existing tiles being painted.
Results (as presented!) are good. Cineworld, however, have a mountain of debt. In the above linked presentation/conference call, they said that without doing anything they can cover costs for several months before being at risk of breaching loan covenants. At the time of the call, they had negotated lease payment breaks in Poland in case of closure.
At the time of the presentation, they also seemed to be working on the assumption that this would be over in 6 months.
Unless it is blocked, they are obligated to complete the takeover of Canada’s Cineplex.
Have you experienced being assigned a seat without being asked, in a Leicester Square cinema? I’m not speaking of the new Warner of 1993 where, as it stated above the desks, “seat attributed by the computer” (which is the reason why I never wanted to go there anymore).
I don’t think so, and I would always ask about seating location when buying a ticket. In those days I mostly went to the first performance on a weekday during school holidays, and as there would be so few in at that time, seating wasn’t assigned.
I think at the Warner West End you could always ask for the “automated” seat allocation to be changed. In a way, this is better than the current situation, where patrons end up being clustered around the centre of the auditorium, and I doubt most of them are quite so bothered about being in the “sweet spot” compared to you or I.
I can’t remember the last time I attended a performance not seated on, or at least very close to, the centreline.
On one occasion, I did end up sitting in the back audience left corner of the OLS circle, as my friend bought the tickets. I also ended up being seated at the back of the audience right stalls once, when it was exceptionally busy. The top of the screen only just avoided being obscured by the balcony.
The shallow rake of the old cinemas (e.g. OLS or Empire 1 stalls) became quite unacceptable, particularly once the “next generation” multiplexes with steep stadia arrived in the latter half of the 90’s.
Façade is (finally!) nearing completion. A photo taken a couple of weeks ago has been uploaded. Looks very good.
As an aside, I had a very odd dream last night in which I visited the foyer of the “new” OWE. It had opened before the hotel, was at ground level, not very big but very busy. A frequent cinema-related dream that I have is a nightmare about the old Empire 1 being stripped out; the replacement OWE is highly unlikely to leave an such indelible impression on my soul, as it were!
Thanks Lionel; for some reason my own Google search on the 8325 yielded no results. Very similar indeed, just a neater and easier to install form with the 8330.
I could have sworn it was ‘86. Somewhere I have an old notebook in which I kept logs of cinema/theatre trips from my childhood…
I paid a visit to Screen 2 in February to see “Parasite,” which was not programmed in any of the largest auditoria of any venue, and this location seemed to me to be the best option available in the West End.
Very good picture quality was achieved, bright and with good saturation, and, IIRC, with good black levels. The sound seemed to be lower than reference level, but the quality was very good, aided by the low reverberation time of the auditorium. The surround imaging was good although as with any “legacy” system using a rear array, it was diffuse even when it should have been directional. The bass was well extended, although presumably this feature did not push LFE to the limit.
Quibbles: The auditorium has some audible HVAC noise and/or noise from the (boothless) projection (situated above the rear rows of the stadia.) Also, before the programme started, the left surrounds had a clearly audible noise floor. Fortunately, no leakage from the foyer nor the adjacent Screen 1 was audible.
The screen is scope ratio and moveable masking is not used. In practice, given that the adverts/trailers are shown in “flat” ratio in the centre section of the screen, and any that are scope end up being letterboxed, this entire aspect of the presentation is compromised, anyway. It obviously made no difference to the main, scope ratio, feature.
The screen is very generously sized for the auditorium depth.
The red upholstered Lino Sonego seating is comfortable, and the restepped stadia from Cineworld’s 2018 refurbishment provides good legroom.
All in all, as a “standard” auditorium, a good place to see a film. Remarkably non-compromised given that it occupies the former space occupied by the toilets.
Addendum: The weave of the stretched fabric wall covering can be seen above the strip, and the “acoustic carpet” fixed to the lower part of the sidewalls (which doesn’t look terribly different to any other short-pile carpet, but it is marketed as such by vendors such as Eomac) is also visible.
Looks like Cineworld have another IMAX with a “tall” screen planned for their Aberdeen site, planning permission for which was granted a couple of weeks ago. Estimated screen size and link to planning application on the linked page.
News coming in quickly on this—cinemas are being “mothballed” for now, debt restructuring initiated.
Thanks, Lionel. I can’t access the whole article due to it being paywalled.
It claims that cinemas “the rise of TVs and smartphones has turned routine trips to the flicks into a rarity,” but LSQ seemed to be doing very well indeed, sometimes very busy and with a “buzz” that reminscent of the early to mid 1990’s.
The old Empire 1 may have been, ahem, altered, and the new auditoria weren’t “the same”—but the IMAX still retained enough grandeur and magic—sitting in an optimum position (say row H)—the wide auditorium and arched ceiling, all bathed in light from concealed sources—it still felt like something unique and special—quite different to the usual multiplex “box.”
Who knows what the future holds now?
As for Cineworld, they had become too indebted to survive—they had some months of cash reserve, and then they would breach bank covenants. I guess they were able to hold on for a while, but the day has come when they can’t.
“COVID”—I continue to impose a high level of control to protect myself and others. Otherwise I am tired of hearing the latest figures and meandering interventions. All I can say is that the response at “state” level in the UK and many other countries has been amateur hour. The virus is not to be underestimated as trivial but it didn’t have to be this disasterous.
Hello Lionel,
Glad to hear you’re safe. Have evaded the virus, but ended up with something that’s probably much worse in my case—a very nasty ankle injury from which I’m currently (slowly!) recovering.
Dark clouds are looming I’m afraid—it’s being reported Cineworld are to close all UK sites.
Will never be the same as visiting a cinema, but at least I acquired a nice Panasonic OLED a few months ago.
Hope all other CT contributors are well.
The end of the road for Cineworld’s UK operations appears to be nigh:
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/cineworld-draws-plans-close-uk-221710099.html
LOL! Great story.
curmudgeon:
Whilst the tabs situation at the OLS is regrettable, and I know it’s not what you mean by “showmanship,” the “showmanship” at the OLS starts before entering the building. And what is something like the video display feature on the escalator landing if not showmanship? Or the entrance to the Royal Circle?
These help set the mood before the feature; one has escaped the outside world and stepped into wonderland…
It’s not hard to come up with market sectors that cinemas make for an attractive choice. Here are a couple of examples:
One could also point out the billion dollar box office takings of the various “tentpole” movies, or the success of “Unlimited” card programmes, etc…
The latest audio/visual formats for consumer distribution (e.g. Ultra HD Blu-ray) are fantastic and cinemas are definitely falling behind in some respects. Still, as an overall event that leaves an indelible mark, going to a cinema like the OLS is very different to watching a film at home.
I do think cinemas and the industry will adapt and change.
Currently, though, I’m just dreaming of the day that I can actually visit a cinema again…
An update on the Amazon/AMC rumour:
Which AMC?! TV Company Stock Pops, Theater Circuit Dips After Amazon Rumor Gets Rewrite.
Lionel:
Good to hear. :–)
Wanda Group (of China) does have a large stake in Odeon Group’s parent, AMC. However, they are massively indebted.
Nikkei Asian Review – No fastpass: Cinema closures dent Wanda’s dream of beating Disney.
As for Amazon—yes, they do seem to be taking over the world—but (whilst published over a year ago) this might be of interest…
Amazon Prime subscribers are a higher social class than Netflix viewers, research finds.
I’m afraid Curzon was acquired last year by the American company Cohen Media Group…
SethLewis: I can’t see there’s much room for price hikes at the top end of the market (IMAX/PLF/“Luxe”.) They can hardly start charging £30/ticket… (OK, OLS Royal Circle…)
Cineworld have emphatically stated that they do not want attrition of “Unlimited” subscribers and are rolling over subscriptions, and clearly they will all be super keen to lure customers back.
However… if “social distancing” means “2 metres” spacing then with “standard” seating this would seem to be unviable without a very dramatic reduction in capacity. Just considering one row, perhaps 3 empty seats would be needed either side—and then one needs to consider the adjacent rows. With a 2 metre radius circle, that might reduce capacity to rather less than 1/10th!
It would be more viable with recliners as the row spacing should be adequate.
Outside of the “tentpole” market, with movie budgets in the hundreds of millions of dollars range and the biggest titles shooting for billion dollar box office receipts, strictly sticking to the 100 year old movie distribution model hardly makes sense in a digital world.
I do think there is a lot of opportunity for new approaches outside of the studio “box.” It could be exciting rather than the demise of cinema. :–)
Hope everyone is keeping safe.
Seems that Amazon may have been in talks to acquire AMC:
Could Amazon be about to take over your local cinema? With Odeon’s owner in trouble, deal could help tech giant shoot ahead in movie wars.
The hotel’s website now says that the hotel will be “premiering late 2020.”
Lionel: As you may have heard, cinemas, pubs and other public venues are now compulsorily closed in the UK. :–( Leicester Square was featured in a news segment yesterday evening; it was almost empty. The reporter stood in Leicester Square Gardens with the OLS behind—how very odd to see it with all the lighting and LED module displays out of action.
Food retailers are stripped each day as if hit by locusts. Fortunately I had pre-booked a supermarket delivery and as of today we are now well stocked.
Let’s hope our favourite cinemas return back to business as usual at some point. Strange days indeed.
Regarding the sightlines in the OLS—come to think of it, I probably was not sitting in the last row of the rear stalls. I can’t even remember the movie now, though, let alone the aspect ratio. With the screen raised in the 2018 refurbishment, and the increased rake of the stalls, despite the rear wall being moved forward, sightlines to the top of the screen remain tight in the last row of the stalls.
Quartz from Tiles Porcelain in Cineworld.
This company claims to have supplied the black and red polished quartz “sparkle” floor tiles used in the refurbished lobbies. They are currently selling them at the price of £29.99 per sq. metre.
(Note: The quality of these quartz “sparkle” tile products seems to vary and I’ve never seen any on display that look quite like those I’ve seen in Cineworlds, and that price is rock bottom.)
In the US, a bailout has been requested…
National Association of Theatre Owners – THEATER OWNERS URGE CONGRESS TO MOVE QUICKLY ON AID.
The additional layer of acoustic tiles that were added during the 2006 sound system upgrade can clearly be seen here on top of the what were the existing tiles. (At this position, the added tiles stop short of the ceiling.)
The “bump” tiles are obviously recessed; compare to how the auditorium looked in 1986.
I can’t help but wonder if there weren’t another set of tiles added in the 1988/9 refurb, too. Certainly one article said that a “whole replastering process took place” but it didn’t say what that meant or if it was simply was a reference to the existing tiles being painted.
Universal Breaking Theatrical Windows to Stream ‘Invisible Man,’ ‘The Hunt,’ and ‘Emma’.
Who can say if this will set a precedent?
It might well be the case that investors are lumping cinemas in with “legacy” bricks and mortar retail/leisure businesses.
Cineworld FY2019 Results Presentation/Conference Call – 12th March 2020.
Results (as presented!) are good. Cineworld, however, have a mountain of debt. In the above linked presentation/conference call, they said that without doing anything they can cover costs for several months before being at risk of breaching loan covenants. At the time of the call, they had negotated lease payment breaks in Poland in case of closure.
At the time of the presentation, they also seemed to be working on the assumption that this would be over in 6 months.
Unless it is blocked, they are obligated to complete the takeover of Canada’s Cineplex.
Here’s the latest news:
Telegraph – Cineworld begins laying off staff. (Behind paywall.)
In the case of the share price tumbling, it is pretty clear that a lot of short positions were being held and were “cashed in.”
Lionel:
I don’t think so, and I would always ask about seating location when buying a ticket. In those days I mostly went to the first performance on a weekday during school holidays, and as there would be so few in at that time, seating wasn’t assigned.
I think at the Warner West End you could always ask for the “automated” seat allocation to be changed. In a way, this is better than the current situation, where patrons end up being clustered around the centre of the auditorium, and I doubt most of them are quite so bothered about being in the “sweet spot” compared to you or I.
I can’t remember the last time I attended a performance not seated on, or at least very close to, the centreline.
On one occasion, I did end up sitting in the back audience left corner of the OLS circle, as my friend bought the tickets. I also ended up being seated at the back of the audience right stalls once, when it was exceptionally busy. The top of the screen only just avoided being obscured by the balcony.
The shallow rake of the old cinemas (e.g. OLS or Empire 1 stalls) became quite unacceptable, particularly once the “next generation” multiplexes with steep stadia arrived in the latter half of the 90’s.
Wish all fellow Cinema Treasures contributors good health, as we reach the next phase of the COVID-19 outbreak in the UK and elsewhere.
Odeon have now closed all cinemas “until further notice.” Auditoria that I checked have been virtually empty over the past few days.
This is the “link” between the old foyer and new; the columns are in the new foyer.
Zappomatic: Thanks for the photos. How is the picture and sound quality in Screen 12?
Façade is (finally!) nearing completion. A photo taken a couple of weeks ago has been uploaded. Looks very good.
As an aside, I had a very odd dream last night in which I visited the foyer of the “new” OWE. It had opened before the hotel, was at ground level, not very big but very busy. A frequent cinema-related dream that I have is a nightmare about the old Empire 1 being stripped out; the replacement OWE is highly unlikely to leave an such indelible impression on my soul, as it were!
Thanks Lionel; for some reason my own Google search on the 8325 yielded no results. Very similar indeed, just a neater and easier to install form with the 8330.
I could have sworn it was ‘86. Somewhere I have an old notebook in which I kept logs of cinema/theatre trips from my childhood…
I paid a visit to Screen 2 in February to see “Parasite,” which was not programmed in any of the largest auditoria of any venue, and this location seemed to me to be the best option available in the West End.
Very good picture quality was achieved, bright and with good saturation, and, IIRC, with good black levels. The sound seemed to be lower than reference level, but the quality was very good, aided by the low reverberation time of the auditorium. The surround imaging was good although as with any “legacy” system using a rear array, it was diffuse even when it should have been directional. The bass was well extended, although presumably this feature did not push LFE to the limit.
Quibbles: The auditorium has some audible HVAC noise and/or noise from the (boothless) projection (situated above the rear rows of the stadia.) Also, before the programme started, the left surrounds had a clearly audible noise floor. Fortunately, no leakage from the foyer nor the adjacent Screen 1 was audible.
The screen is scope ratio and moveable masking is not used. In practice, given that the adverts/trailers are shown in “flat” ratio in the centre section of the screen, and any that are scope end up being letterboxed, this entire aspect of the presentation is compromised, anyway. It obviously made no difference to the main, scope ratio, feature.
The screen is very generously sized for the auditorium depth.
The red upholstered Lino Sonego seating is comfortable, and the restepped stadia from Cineworld’s 2018 refurbishment provides good legroom.
All in all, as a “standard” auditorium, a good place to see a film. Remarkably non-compromised given that it occupies the former space occupied by the toilets.
Several photos have been uploaded.
Addendum: The weave of the stretched fabric wall covering can be seen above the strip, and the “acoustic carpet” fixed to the lower part of the sidewalls (which doesn’t look terribly different to any other short-pile carpet, but it is marketed as such by vendors such as Eomac) is also visible.
Looks like Cineworld have another IMAX with a “tall” screen planned for their Aberdeen site, planning permission for which was granted a couple of weeks ago. Estimated screen size and link to planning application on the linked page.