Movie theater

A movie theater (American English) or cinema is a location, usually a building, for viewing movies. Colloquial expressions, mostly used for cinemas collectively, include the silver screen and the big screen (contrasted with the "small screen" of television). Generally, theaters are not owned by individuals, but rather operated by corporations and visited by the general public: one can attend the film showing after buying a ticket. The film is projected with a movie projector onto a large projection screen at the front of the auditorium.

Major movie theater companies

North America

• AMC Theatres - 450 theatres - North America's second-largest movie theater chain (usually the industry leader in profitability).
• Carmike Cinemas
• Century Theatres
• Cinemark Theatres
• Cinémas Guzzo - In 2005 : thirteen locations in Montreal/Laval and their area.
• Cineplex Odeon Corporation
• Coming Attractions - As of July 2005, thirteen locations in CA, OR, WA
• Eastern Federal Theatres- Small chain of theatres in central North Carolina
• Edwards Theatres - operated by Regal Entertainment Group
• Empire Theatres - 59 locations, 403 screens - Leading chain of movie theaters in the Atlantic Canadian provinces
• Famous Players - Formerly Canada's largest theater chain, bought by Cineplex Odeon in 2005
• Galaxy Theatres
• Goodrich Quality Theaters - over 35 movie theaters
• Landmark Theatres - 58 theatres, 209 screens
• Loews Cineplex Entertainment - 200 theaters, 2,176 screens
• Mann Theatres - 20 theatres, 122 screens in Southern California
• Marcus Theatres
• Marquee Cinemas - A fairly small movie theater chain, operated out of Beckley, West Virginia
• National Amusements - 1,300 screens - Parent company of Viacom.*Rainbow and Magic Lantern Cinemas
• Regal Entertainment Group - 584 locations, 6,273 screens - North America's largest movie theater chain
• Rave Motion Pictures - A fairly small, new, futuristic movie theater chain.

Asia

• AMC
• Broadway (Edko)
• Cathay
• Eng Wah
• Golden Harvest - The largest cinema group in Asia.
• Golden Screen Cinemas
• Golden Village- a joint venture between Australia's Village Roadshow and Hong Kong's Golden Harvest in Singapore.
• Shaw Organisation
• TGV Cinemas
• UA
• Warner Village

Europe

• Cineworld
• Odeon
• UGC
• United Cinemas International (UCI)
• Vue

Australasia

• Hoyts
• Greater Union / Birch, Carroll & Coyle
• Village