 | |
| Formerly | |
|---|---|
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Entertainment |
| Founded | 1928 |
| Founder | Oscar Deutsch |
| Headquarters | London, England, UK |
Number of locations | 103 (United Kingdom) 11 (Ireland) 10 (Norway) 4 (Greece) |
Area served | United Kingdom, Ireland and Norway |
Key people | Mark Way (Group chief executive officer) |
| Parent | Odeon Cinemas Group |
| Website | odeon odeoncinemas |
Odeon Cinemas Limited,[1] trading as Odeon (stylised in all caps), is a cinema brand name operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway and Greece, which along with UCI Cinemas and Nordic Cinema Group is part of the Odeon Cinemas Group subsidiary of AMC Theatres. It uses the famous name of the Odeon cinema circuit first introduced in Great Britain in 1930. As of 2016, Odeon is the largest cinema chain in the United Kingdom by market share (although the Irish cinemas were also included within this figure).[2][3][4]
The first Odeon cinema was opened by Oscar Deutsch in 1928, in Brierley Hill, Staffordshire (now West Midlands), England, although initially called "Picture House". The first cinema to use the Odeon brand name was Deutsch's cinema at Perry Barr, Birmingham in 1930. The brand's flagship cinema, the Odeon, Leicester Square in London, opened in 1937. Odeon then became part of the Rank Organisation who continued their ownership of the circuit for a further sixty years. Through a number of sales and acquisitions in the early 2000s the company was purchased by Terra Firma, which merged Odeon and UCI Cinemas to form Odeon UCI Cinemas Group. Most UCI cinemas then took the Odeon brand name in 2006. Terra Firma/UCI sold the company to AMC Theatres in November 2016. Ironically, UCI was originally formed through the merger of AMC UK and Cinema International Corporation in 1989.
- ^ a b c "Odeon Cinemas Limited overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". Companies House. 10 October 1984. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
- ^ Grater, Tom (7 January 2016). "Odeon regains UK market lead from Cineworld". Screen International. Archived from the original on 26 February 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
- ^ Ritman, Alex (26 February 2015). "European Cinema Chain Odeon & UCI to Be Put Up for Sale for $1.55 Billion (Report)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 27 January 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
- ^ "UK's Cheapest Cinemas Revealed". Vouchify.co.uk. 17 August 2019. Archived from the original on 31 August 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2019.