Today
The Empire 1 screen is the largest, with a seating capacity of 1,330 since its last major refurbishment in the mid-1960s. Empire 2, seating 349, was formerly a separate cinema called the Ritz, located below ground. Since the 1960s refurbishment, the screen has been part of the Empire (although it had a separate entrance until a small refurbishment in the mid-1980s). Empire 3 is a small screen with only a 77-seat capacity. In spring 2008, two further small screens were added; Empire 4 with 96 seats and Empire 5 with 50 seats.
In 2009, Empire 3 was closed and void space was utilised to create three new auditoriums. Empire is now an 8 screen cinema and all screens have digital projection.
For a period in the early-to-mid 1990s, the Empire 1 was notable for the short sound-and-light show, involving laser projections onto the curtains and walls, that preceded the start of each programme.
In October 2005, the Empire was sold to Empire Cinemas Ltd, along with ten other cinemas around the UK, following instructions from the OFT that Terra Firma divest of 11 cinemas in order that their acquisition of UCI go ahead. On 2 April 2006, Irish newspapers reported that all the theatres recently acquired by Empire Cinemas would be rebranded under the Empire brand.
In the summer of 2006, the Empire 1 sound system was completely overhauled, installing a 56 kilowatt THX certified sound system. At the same time as this the screen size was expanded by approximately 4 metres.
In May 2009, the Empire screen 1 was fitted with the UK's first Dolby 3D large screen solution. This solution included a Barco digital cinema twin-projector.
In July 2012, the Empire screen 1 was fitted with the UK's first Dolby Atmos sound solution allowing up to 128 discrete sound tracks and up to 64 unique speaker feeds.
Read more about this topic: Empire, Leicester Square
Famous quotes containing the word today:
“To be faced with what so-and-sos mother lets him do, or what the teacher said in class today or what all the kids are wearing is to be required to reexamine some part of our belief structure. Each time we rethink our values we reaffirm them or begin to change them. Seen in this way, parenthood affords us an exceptional opportunity for growth.”
—Ruth Davidson Bell (20th century)
“Not too many years ago, a childs experience was limited by how far he or she could ride a bicycle or by the physical boundaries that parents set. Today ... the real boundaries of a childs life are set more by the number of available cable channels and videotapes, by the simulated reality of videogames, by the number of megabytes of memory in the home computer. Now kids can go anywhere, as long as they stay inside the electronic bubble.”
—Richard Louv (20th century)
“What
Reply can the vast flowering strike from us,
Unless it be the one
You make today in London: to be married?”
—Philip Larkin (19221986)