Odeon Cinemas

Odeon Cinemas Limited, trading as Odeon, is a well-known cinema brand in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, and Greece. It is part of the Odeon Cinemas Group, which also includes UCI Cinemas, Cinesa, and Nordic Cinema Group. This group is owned by AMC Theatres. Odeon is the largest cinema chain in the UK.

The first Odeon cinema opened in 1928 in Brierley Hill, Staffordshire, England, originally named "Picture House." The first cinema to use the Odeon name was in Perry Barr, Birmingham, in 1930. The famous Odeon cinema in Leicester Square, London, opened in 1937. Over the years, Odeon changed ownership several times. It became part of the Rank Organisation for sixty years before being bought by Terra Firma, which later merged it with UCI Cinemas. In 2016, AMC Theatres purchased Odeon.

History

Establishment

Odeon Cinemas began in 1928, started by a man named Oscar Deutsch. Although some people thought the name came from his motto, "Oscar Deutsch Entertains Our Nation," the name was actually used in France and Italy before that. The word comes from an Ancient Greek word meaning "a place for singing." The first Odeon cinema opened in Brierley Hill, Staffordshire, England, in 1928. The first cinema to use the Odeon brand name opened in 1930 in Perry Barr, Birmingham. It was designed in a style called Art Deco, inspired by ships.

Expansion

Deutsch bought more locations and built more cinemas, with five opening in 1933. These cinemas often had unique and beautiful designs inside. In 1935, a photographer named John Maltby took pictures of all the Odeon cinemas. In 1936, 35 more Odeon cinemas opened, and in 1937, the Odeon Leicester Square in London opened. This became the main cinema for the chain. More cinemas opened in bigger cities, and Odeon took over other smaller cinema companies in Scotland.

In 1938, Deutsch sold part of the business to J. Arthur Rank, who was starting what would become the Rank Organisation. In 1939, they bought more cinemas from Paramount Pictures in cities like Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, and Newcastle upon Tyne.

By the time Deutsch passed away in 1941, the chain had 258 cinemas across Britain. After his death, his wife sold his shares to Rank, who also took control of another cinema chain called Gaumont-British. In 1942, Odeon bought more cinemas from Paramount. In 1948, Rank combined the management of Odeon and Gaumont.

In 1953, Odeon introduced new technologies like 3D films, widescreen, and CinemaScope in the UK. The Odeon Marble Arch showed a film called Bwana Devil in 3D.

In 1959, Rank restructured its cinemas. As fewer people went to cinemas, many single-screen cinemas closed, changed into smaller screens, or became other things like bingo halls. In 1965, Odeon opened its first cinema with two screens in Nottingham. In 1989, they built their first cinema with eight screens in Stoke-on-Trent.

International expansion

In 1944, Rank bought part of a cinema chain in Canada and built Odeon cinemas there. They worked with a company in Australia and bought chains in Ireland, New Zealand, and South Africa in 1946. By 1956, Rank Odeon had cinemas in the West Indies, British Malaya, and Ceylon. In 1957, they opened a cinema in New York City.

Odeon had over a hundred cinemas in Canada, with offices in Toronto and later Willowdale. In 1978, this part of the business was sold to Canadian Theatres and later to Cineplex Corporation, becoming Cineplex Odeon.

They also owned part of a big cinema company in Australia called Greater Union Organisation, based in Sydney. In 1984, this part of the business was sold to an Australian company and is now known as Event Cinemas.

Present day

At the start of the 2000s, Odeon went through several changes as the Rank Group needed money. In 2000, it was bought by Cinven and merged with ABC Cinemas. In 2004, Terra Firma bought the chain and merged it with United Cinemas International, making it the largest cinema chain in Europe. Some smaller cinemas were sold to keep the business within certain rules.

UCI cinemas in Ireland also joined the Odeon chain. In 2007, Odeon became home to Europe's first fully digital cinemas in Hatfield and Surrey Quays in London.

In July 2016, Odeon was bought by AMC Theatres, an American company. During the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, all Odeon cinemas closed. By May 2023, Odeon announced it would close several cinemas, including some of the original ones. As of August 2024, some original Odeon cinemas are still open, such as those in Bristol, Exeter, Harrogate, London Leicester Square, Swiss Cottage, and Worcester.

Rank Screen Advertising

Odeon had its own advertising company called Rank Screen Advertising. It competed with another big company, Pearl & Dean, bought it back. Today, it is known as Digital Cinema Media.

Services

Odeon Cinemas offers a website and mobile apps for iOS and Android so people can buy tickets before movies start. They stopped letting people book tickets by phone in 2014. Odeon has a Guest Service Centre in Manchester and smaller offices there and in London.

They also have a special plan called myLIMITLESS. For a year, members can watch movies as often as they like for a monthly fee. In Islington, Odeon has a place called Islington Luxe & Dine where people can eat a nice meal and watch a movie together.

Controversies

Refusals to screen certain films

In 2008, Odeon decided not to show the film Rambo in any of its UK cinemas, saying there were "commercial differences." In 2010, Odeon planned not to show Alice in Wonderland in its cinemas in the UK, Ireland, and Italy. This was because Disney wanted to show the film for a shorter time in cinemas before releasing it on DVD. After talking separately with Disney, Odeon, Cineworld, and Vue made new agreements.

Public customer complaint

On August 24, 2012, a customer named Matt Pledger shared a complaint on Odeon's Facebook page. He talked about his bad experience, mentioning high ticket and food prices, staff not paying attention, noise from the next cinema, and ads about copying films. His complaint became very popular, getting over 275,000 'Likes' and more than 23,000 comments by September 3, 2012. It also got attention from national media, including a program on BBC Radio 4.

Ban on Universal Pictures films

On April 29, 2020, Odeon Cinemas and its parent company AMC Theatres said they would not show any films from Universal Pictures. This happened because Universal planned to release some films straight to streaming and on-demand services during the COVID-19 pandemic instead of in cinemas first. The boss of AMC Theatres said this ban would happen at all 1,000 of their cinemas worldwide after the lockdown. Later, in July 2020, they solved the problem, and AMC agreed that Universal could show films on streaming 17 days after they were in cinemas.