Movie theater facts for kids

A movie theatre in New Rochelle, New York.

Football fans watching a football game in a movie theater

A movie theater or movie theatre is a place where movies are shown on a big screen. People or "patrons" (the audience) watch movies, usually in chairs inside an auditorium. An electric machine called a projector shines a very bright light through the movie, and people sitting in the dark room see it on the big screen. A movie theatre is sometimes called a cinema. A theatre with multiple screens commonly is called a "multi-plex" or "mega-plex" (if more than 10 screens). Movie theatres have comfortable chairs. There are different types of formats of a movie theatre.

The first movie theatre was opened to the public on April 23, 1896, in Koster and Bial's Music Hall on 34th Street in New York City. The oldest movie theatre in the world, which is still in action today is the Kino Pionier (opened 1907) in Szczecin, Poland. Movie theatres make money from not only movie tickets but from concessions which sell food and drinks (popcorn, candy, soft drinks, etc). In recent years with the increase of movie rental costs, theatres have become more and more creative about how they make money. New theatres being built include restaurants, party rooms, conference rooms, arcades and more.

Images for kids

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  Modern cinema auditorium in Madrid, Spain

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  Rodgers Theatre in Poplar Bluff in Missouri. This Art Deco-style theater opened in 1949.

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  The view from the projectionist's booth at Ultimate Palace Cinema in Oxford. The projector is displaying the 1997 Universal Pictures logo.

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  A cinema auditorium in Australia

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  The Fox Theater in Atlanta has an old-fashioned neon sign.

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  Kay Theater in Rockdale, Texas

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  The Berlin Wintergarten theatre was the site of the Skladanowsky brothers's first film presentation from 1 to 31 November 1895

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  L'Idéal Cinéma at Aniche, France, opened 23 November 1905, closed 1977, demolished in 1995

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  A small still-active Kino Juha movie theatre in Nurmijärvi, Finland, opened in 1958

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  Regent Theatre in Hokitika, New Zealand

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  Cinema Odeon auditorium in Florence

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  Interior of Hoyts cinemas auditorium in Perth, Australia, with stadium seating with cup holders, acoustic wall hangings and wall-mounted speakers.

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  Interior of a 1950s-style fine arts movie theater auditorium. A low pitch viewing floor is used.

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  Tennispalatsi, one of the major Finnkino multiplex movie theatre places, in Helsinki, Finland

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  A typical raked (sloped) floor for a movie auditorium, which gives all viewers a clear view of the screen.

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  Example of a Multiplex layout

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  A drive-in with a 33-metre (108-foot) wide inflatable movie screen in the centre of Brussels

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  A giant inflatable movie screen used at a temporary outdoor movie theater (open air cinema)

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  1967 Bedford mobile cinema

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  A typical multiplex (AMC Promenade 16 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles)

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  Non-movie-theater screening: movie in a culture club in Germany

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  35 mm movie projector

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  Broadcast center

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  Admission prices board, Cinema Museum (London)

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  Seating indicator

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  Box office of a 1950s style fine arts movie theater.

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  Hallway of MPX Grande, a defunct movie theater in Pasaraya Blok M, Jakarta.