AMC Empire 25

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/AMC+Empire+25+Fully+Restored+From+Its+Original+Format+to+Open+in…-a060057377 here’s a video on the process of moving the historic theater so that the screens were built.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DHCBAc8Fow

Happy 15th AMC Empire!!! The one with the most screens with its name in the world on cinema treasures.

Next month this theater turns 15. Back then the share price of AMC was cheap as it’s across the street competition had more summer hits than the empire which cost around a hundred million bucks to develop. Pretty soon things turned around and now the empire is the #1 theater in the USA. Next year will be ten years since AMC sold off the e walk due to antitrust rules from the merger which was a good idea.

This marknyla guy seems to have a thing about the theatre. it was closed while they got rid of a bed bug problem. The place is packed. And renting out to church groups? the BB King theatre across the streets does Sunday Gospell that so so loud you can hear it down the block.

i agree. They often have exclusive engagements of movies before anyone else alongside major cities…the building is amazing outside when compared to the regal across the street. I remember when this theater opened in 2000 the New York Times ran an ad promoting the chain’s entry into New York City. Not only did this theater showed arthouse and mainstream fare but they had a classic movie program at the time.

http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/1/7478987/box-office-attendance-hits-lowest-level-in-19-years they used a photo of the amc logo sign.

Does anyone have any idea what is happening at this place? There are no showtimes scheduled after tonight, and there is a cryptic note on their website about a “theatre outage” but no further information. I know this place isn’t getting the business it once did, but could it finally be over, or just another bedbug fumigation?

Resident’s of Manhattan do not seem to go to matinee’s. I usually go Saturday or Sunday afternoon for that reason. Don’t Have to put up with crowds.Try an evening show. The place is packed. The same with the Regal across the street. Afternoons are a ghost town.

In April of next year it will be 15 years since this theater was opened. To this day it’s still the busiest theater in America due to its number of screens and exclusive engagements of indie and mainstream movies before nationwide releases. It was the second megaplex to open in Times Square, the first being the E-Walk in 1999. During its opening in 2000, this theater occasionally showed classic movies in the smaller screens while showing the latest blockbusters on the bigger screens.

On my third visit yesterday I had more time to look around. I had not realized as you ride the escalators to the upper floors there is a brick wall to your left. This is the side outer wall of the original theatre building which is now the lobby. The imprint of a former fire escape is clearly visible. The theatre is truly amazing and is kept very clean. The ticket price is up to $14.50 but luckily I had an AMC gift card.

Probably, that and the area is on lockdown after a certain point with security check points, etc – and once it reaches a certain capacity they close the street – thus, I doubt anybody would want to deal with the those crowds, just to see a movie one NYE.

(Then again you could be stopped and frisked anytime you’re walking down the street in NYC! – thanks Mike Bloomberg!)

The lobby (and those great outdoor patios) are taken over and I believe the NYE party offers a variety of packages, etc on each level – I believe a private organization rents the space from AMC.

By the time NYE rolls around I have very little energy to party truth be told, but I did look into this out of curiosity (I believe the package also included a pass into the secure zone should the NYPD close the area to the general public – those going somewhere were permitted in).

Actually, to address the New Years Eve issue, for many years that I can remember, all the theatres in the radius of streets where the times square celebration takes place closed after 6 pm that day. Im not sure if it was mandated by the city, but I know it was for crowd control and such. You wouldn’t want a packed movie theatre emptying out at midnight into a crowd that big. That practice has been going on for years.

The old legit Empire was never air conditioned. I remember during the run of Wish You Were Here, they brought in dry ice to put in front of the fans.