BFI IMAX
IMAX cinema with the UK's largest screen
The BFI IMAX is an IMAX cinema in the Waterloo district of London, just north of Waterloo station. It is owned and operated by the British Film Institute. From 2012 until 2022, it was operated by Odeon Cinemas.
The cinema is located in the centre of a roundabout junction with Waterloo Road to the south-east, Stamford Street to the north-east, York Road to the south-west and Waterloo Bridge to the north-west.
01History
BFI IMAX was designed by Bryan Avery of Avery Associates Architects and completed in May 1999. The screen is the largest in Britain (20 m (66 ft) high and 26 m (85 ft) wide). It has a seating capacity of 500 and a 14,000 W (19 hp) digital surround sound system. Although the site is surrounded by traffic and has an underground line just four metres below, the architects and engineers accounted for this in their design and the entire upper structure sits on anti-vibration bearings to prevent noise propagation.
The cinema won several awards at the time of opening, including a Design Council Millennium Product Award in 1999 and a Civic Trust Award in 2000.
In 2012, the 65 ft-tall screen was replaced and dual digital IMAX laser-powered projectors were installed alongside the existing 70mm IMAX projector, it also has a standard D-Cinema projection system, plus scope to project from 35mm and standard 70mm. In July 2012, the BFI announced that Odeon Cinemas had been selected to operate it for the next five years, with the option of termination after three years. Odeon maintained the film programmes and booking of tickets online and by telephone. This gave customers the opportunity to watch operas on the giant screen. However, the BFI retained power over the cinema's operation, including parts of the film schedule, the name and the technical operation.
To start this move to mainstream cinema, the BFI London IMAX theatre celebrated by having sold 66,000 pre-booked tickets for The Dark Knight Rises in just five weeks, giving a total sale in tickets of £1,000,000 even before the premiere of the movie.
In June 2022, the BFI announced that its ten-year concession deal with Odeon would end on 19 July 2022, with the BFI regaining control of operations. The cinema closed on this date, with a planned re-opening on 22 July
02Other IMAX cinemas in London
London has another traditional size IMAX cinema at the Science Museum in South Kensington and in December 2008 gained smaller IMAX digital cinemas at Odeon cinemas in Greenwich and Wimbledon. In 2011, a digital IMAX screen was also opened at the Odeon in Swiss Cottage.
03Screen-size comparison with other large London screens
The BFI IMAX is the largest cinema screen in the United Kingdom. It measures 25.9 m (85 ft) wide by 19.8 m (65 ft) tall with a total screen size of 512.8 m2 (5,520 ft2) (289 m2 (3,110 ft2) for a 2.39:1 film, 363 m2 (3,910 ft2) for 1.85:1 and 469 m2 (5,050 ft2) for IMAX 1.43:1).
Before its October 2022 refurbishment it measured 26.5 m (87 ft) wide by 20 m (66 ft) tall, which meant that a film with an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 would only use 293 m2 (3,150 ft2) of the screen, or 379 m2 (4,080 ft2) for a 1.85:1 film and 491 m2 (5,290 ft2) for an IMAX 1.43:1 film. The auditorium seats 493, including 4 wheelchair spaces.
| Cinema | Screen | 2.39:1 area | 1.85:1 area | Projector | Sound |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cineworld (Empire) Leicester Square | IMAX | 295 m2 (3,180 ft2) | 380 m2 (4,100 ft2) | 2 x IMAX Laser (4K each) | IMAX 12ch |
| BFI IMAX | IMAX | 280 m2 (3,000 ft2) | 365 m2 (3,930 ft2) | 1 x IMAX single-laser (CoLa) (4K); 1 x traditional 15/70mm IMAX projector; 1 x Christie (4K) Laser projector; 1 x Century JJ 35mm/70mm projector | IMAX 12ch; Dolby Digital; DTS |
| Science Museum | IMAX: The Ronson Theatre | 247 m2 (2,660 ft2) | 319 m2 (3,430 ft2) | 2 x IMAX Laser (4K each); 1 x traditional 15/70mm IMAX projector | IMAX 12ch |
| Cineworld, the O2 | Superscreen #11 | 200 m2 (2,200 ft2) | 160 m2 (1,700 ft2) | 1 x Christie 2K or 4K (?) | Dolby Atmos |
| Cineworld (Empire) Leicester Square | Superscreen | 170 m2 (1,800 ft2) | 220 m2 (2,400 ft2) | 2 x Barco DP4K-32B (4K each) | Dolby Atmos |
| VUE Stratford | Xtreme Screen #5/6/7/17 | 140 m2 (1,500 ft2) | 180 m2 (1,900 ft2) | 2 x Sony SRX-R515DS (4K each) | Dolby Digital 6.1 |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “BFI IMAX”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- BFI IMAX, Waterloo.jpg by Matt Brown, CC BY 2.0
- BFI London IMAX at night.jpg by The original uploader was Mnbf9rca at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 2.5
- IMAX London.jpg by Ladislav Luppa, CC BY-SA 3.0
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