Eaton Centre Cinemas

1 Dundas Street W,
Toronto, ON M5B 2H1

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Showing 26 - 43 of 43 comments

Grainger
Grainger on July 29, 2008 at 7:31 pm

Do'h

When “Ian-‘adoraKiaOra” asked if the “AMC Dundas Square” had an entry on this site….

I thought he wanted to know if you could enter it from the “Eaton Centre”

‹(•¿•)›

Grainger
Grainger on July 29, 2008 at 1:38 pm

We have a page about it on this board.

/theaters/23669/

You can get to it from the Eaton Centre with out going outdoors.
You go through the “Dundas Street Subway Station” it connects the “Eaton Centre” to the “Dundas Square Building”

Grainger
Grainger on July 29, 2008 at 1:34 pm

If you mean the “AMC Dundas Square” it is open and you can read about it here.

View link

AdoraKiaOra
AdoraKiaOra on July 28, 2008 at 3:20 am

Is the new complex across the road open yet and
is there an entry on this site for it yet?

KingBiscuits
KingBiscuits on July 28, 2008 at 2:18 am

It was shot in California and not Ontario.

CSWalczak
CSWalczak on July 19, 2008 at 8:58 pm

According to the entry for the film on Wikipedia, the theater used was the Mann 6 in Simi Valley, California.

Aaron77
Aaron77 on July 19, 2008 at 8:07 pm

Isn’t this the movie theater they shot some of the scenes to bachelor party in? Where tom hanks and his group of misfit party goers search for guy who stole his woman. The above picture looks like the movie theater in the film…Only in the film they list this place as having 36 screens. I figure this was an inside joke based apon the record breaking number of screens this theater had at the time…Can someone tell me if I am right?…

KingBiscuits
KingBiscuits on July 15, 2008 at 9:41 am

Thanks for the explanation.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on July 15, 2008 at 8:52 am

This theatre opened with subrun films because Odeon and Famous Players would not allow Cineplex access to first run films and Canada did not have trade regulations to stop the duopoly.

Garth Drabinski followed the early AMC policy of playing just what he could get and the theatre was still a huge success. The megaplex innovation received enough backing that he was able to finance the takeover of Odeon (hence Cineplex Odeon) and therefore access to first-runs.

The success of his Beverly Hills Cineplex also eventually led to financing to enter the U.S. market in a big way. The involvement of MCA/Universal also allowed him the deep pockets to buy up huge chains of U.S. theatres such as Plitt and RKO.

Grainger
Grainger on July 15, 2008 at 7:54 am

Now a question if I may..

Does anyone remember a Cinema on the West Side of Yonge south of Dundas before they built the Eaton Centre.

I am sure I remember going to a cinema on the west side of Yonge between Queen and Dundas in the 1970s.

Thank You

Grainger
Grainger on July 15, 2008 at 7:51 am

The first movie I saw in the Eaton Centre was “The Silent Partner” with “Elliot Gould”

When I went in I didn’t realize that a big part of it had been filmed in the Eaton Centre.

The bank where “Elliot Gould” worked was the “Toronto Dominion Bank” adjacent to the cinema.

D

KingBiscuits
KingBiscuits on July 15, 2008 at 3:38 am

It’s pretty interesting that the theatre opened with mainly art films. Was that the original intent or were they just filler titles?

Meanwhile, the premiere titles:
The Tree Of Wooden Clogs (Italy, on four screens)
The Shout (UK, on three screens)
The Rubber Gun (Canada)
Tommy (UK)
Queen Of The Gypsies (Russia, previously USSR)
Rain and Shine (Hungary)
A Purple Taxi (France/Ireland, on three screens)
Newsfront (Australia, on four screens)

AdoraKiaOra
AdoraKiaOra on February 7, 2008 at 4:13 pm

Jez this place was depressing. The new AMC across the road will be warmly welcomed being as the Paramount is not much loved in Toronto.

hamiltongirl
hamiltongirl on October 16, 2004 at 2:29 pm

I had been to this theatre a few times, but the last time I went there (shortly before it closed) was memorable. I was there with a girlfriend, and it was obvious to both of us that the theatre we were in was a trolling area for gay men. There were quite a few men sitting in the theatre by themselves. Every so often they would get up and sit with another man. Then move to another man. And sometimes they would then walk out. It was very distracting. My friend and I were seeing Fight Club, and would have like to have focused more on the movie. Needless to say, we never went back.

dave-bronx™
dave-bronx™ on September 19, 2004 at 9:19 pm

I believe this was the original ‘Cineplex’ – this was what launched His Arrogance The Grand Pooh-bah on his great crusade to revolutionize the movie theatre business and teach everyone else how to build and run a theatre. It was from here that he took over the Canadian Odeon chain. Unfortunately, nobody put a stake in his heart before he inflicted himself on the business in the United States.

As I recall from the trades at the time, this place was built in a parking garage, and had movable walls so room size could be adjusted (they were all very small) to accommodate the size of the audience. In the beginning it had 21 screens, some were probably combined to make a couple of decent sized screening rooms.

sdoerr
sdoerr on September 19, 2004 at 7:59 pm

I would actually like to see this interesting style the theater has.

dgordon
dgordon on July 10, 2002 at 9:58 am

I could never understand what the attraction of this movie theatre was. I use the term “movie theatre” loosely here. It was more like an overglorified screening room complex. From the “bubblegum” decor, to it’s large screen TV screens, this place was not a venue I favored to see a movie in. The other theatre that was just like this one was the Scarborough Town Centre, which opened in 1980 & had 12 screens. During the Eaton Centre & Scarborough’s heyday, they were constantly busy from when they opened at 11am up until the last show at 10pm. $2.50 Tuesdays were another experience. The cheap price attracted a cheap patron. Pay duty police were hired because trouble broke-out at these theatres. In conclusion, I am not sad to see this theatre go. It was just a matter of time before the public discovered what a rip-off this style of theatre was.

ChadIrish
ChadIrish on February 10, 2002 at 12:37 pm

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