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.

Programming

Movie theaters may also be classified by the type of movies shown:

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• First-run theater: A theater that runs primarily mainstream film fare from the major film companies and distributors, during the initial release period of each film.
• Second-run or discount theater: A theater that runs films that have been pulled from the first-run theaters and presented at a lower ticket price.
• Repertoire/repertory theater or art house: A theater that presents more alternative and art films as well as second-run and classic films. (These are sometimes known as dollar theaters.)
• A sex theater specializes in showing pornographic movies.
• IMAX theaters can show conventional movies, but the major benefits of the IMAX system are only available when showing movies filmed using it. While a few mainstream feature films have been produced in IMAX, IMAX movies are often documentaries featuring spectacular natural scenery, and may be limited to the 45-minute length of a single reel of IMAX film.