Landmark Jackson Square
2 King Street W,
Hamilton,
ON
L8P 1A1
2 King Street W,
Hamilton,
ON
L8P 1A1
2 people
favorited this theater
Related Websites
Landmark Cinemas - Canada (Official)
Additional Info
Operated by: Landmark Cinemas of Canada
Previously operated by: Famous Players
Functions: Movies (First Run)
Styles: Streamline Moderne
Previous Names: Jackson Square Cinemas, Empire Jackson Square 6, Empire Theatres Jackson Square
Phone Numbers:
Box Office:
905.526.8132
Nearby Theaters
The Jackson Square Cinemas opened as a twin August 23, 1972 with Robert Redford in “The Candidate” & Reg Varney in “Mutiny on the Buses”. On September 29, 1989 it was expanded into a six screen movie house.
Each auditorium is named after an old theatre. The Jackson Square Cinemas is the only theatre left in downtown Hamilton. Originally operated by Famous Players, it was taken over by the independent Empire Theatres in 2005. On October 30, 2013 it was taken over by Landmark Cinemas of Canada.
Contributed by
Chad Irish
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Recent comments (view all 13 comments)
Yes, its true. Famous Players sold it off. I was there two nights ago to watch Ultraviolet. I noticed the condition of the theater I was in (#2) was pretty bad. The plaster on the ceiling is starting to deteriorate.
Downtown Hamilton needs two things regarding theatres:
A rather large, “silvercity” type of theatre right in Jackson Square, replacing the existing one. This could only be achieved after the downtown is revitalized as it would require a very large amount of nightly visitors to make any profit. Much more than the current theatre is seeing.
Classic theatres (Tivoli and Century) need to be brought back. Tivoloi serving as a playhouse with the Century doing 2nd run movies.
We’re getting close. 14 new downtown projects were just announced to be funded, right in the core. If we can get the Lister Block back in the game, things are going to get a lot better downtown.
Thats the nature of business, Cineplex sold off high rent, low attendance and ageing theatres to Empire so they can make more money then them. I agree the Tivoli and the Century need to be brought back. If Jackson Square needs to be replaced, people will need to write letters and petitions to Empire or even Cineplex to build new theatres in downtown Hamilton. Large theatre companies such as Cineplex losing money due to low attendance and in my opinion, it is a worse time to build theatres right now.
PARTICLE MAN, “hi”. What 14 projects were announced for downtown Hamilton’s core. I have not heard about this. Thanks.
Since the last post here on 02 July 06 the Tivoli has been torn down after it collapsed and Jackson is still the only theatre in Hamilton apart from Westdale, Movie Palace and that one on Upper James. Sorry but single screen theatres aren’t coming back to Hamilton. Jackson square can hardly fill an entire theatre even on opening night of most major films and I know since I live near by and go there to see the latest flicks.
With the economy in the toilet most people can’t afford to spend money on a movie not to mention parking, food and drinks. Then there is the fact that alot of people download bootleg copies off torrents or wait for the DVD which is usually out in 3 months on average.
Reading this site I’ve noticed how there were a lot of theatres up untill the 80’s such as the Avon, Century/Lyric, Tivoli and they were killed by VCR’s the same way that video stores are being killed by digital downloads.
@Chad, Empire Theatres is the second largest theatre chain after Cineplex which bought Famous Players. I won’t consider them an “independent”. Check empireco.ca for example. The owners of Sobey’s and Price Choppers also own Empire Theatres. Empire Theatres also own some former Silvercities and Cineplex Odeons across Canada.
A correction to two posts ago: the Upper James Cineplex Odeon no longer exists. It was replaced by Silvercity Hamilton on the East Mountain at Heritage Green in December. The fate of the Upper James Cinema is still up in the air.
The Jackson Square 6 seems to do just fine. Every night that I take a stroll through the mall, theres always a giant line to purchase tickets. I’m sure it’s at least breaking even. It’s been a long time since I watched a movie there though. I guess I’m just too pampered with the stadium seating and such at Silvercity.
Lyric and Tivoli still sit as they always have…
Originally, the Jackson Square Cinemas was only two theaters (1 & 2). They are still great places to see a movie…large auditoriums and great screens. The added theaters are a lot smaller, like a typical multplex. I saw a lot of movies there, during the late 1970’s and 1980’s. And two-for-one movies: it was easy to sneak into the other movie. Just go to the bathroom and walk right in to the other show. They didn’t stagger the start times (but if the movie ran over two hours, then forget it). Kirk Douglas appeared here, to promote “Scalawag” on the opening Friday (never saw Kirk in the can).
The Jackson Square Cinemas are no longer owned and/or managed by Empire. Landmark is now running them. There was an article in the newspaper late last year about the takeover. I will report further details later, including an official name.
Expanded to six on September 29, 1989. The expansion caused the closure of the downtown Tivoli Theatre.
The cinema’s opening films as a twin theatre were The Candidate and Mutiny on the Buses. Its expansion into a six-screen cinema on September 29, 1989, included films such as In Country, Johnny Handsome, Black Rain, Dead Poets Society, Batman, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Empire Theatres acquired the theatre on September 29, 2005, and later sold it to Landmark Cinemas on October 30, 2013.