Cineworld Leicester Square IMAX
London · United KingdomSingle source
PremiumCinemaIQ rates this IMAX room A, 68/100 — a genuinely strong large-format room, 370 m² of lit picture, with 11% of the screen never lit. Two independent sources agree on the projector. Data read 5 November 2026.
The former Empire's 2018 refit installed a dual-4K IMAX GT Laser system on a 26.5m-wide screen — the West End's biggest — but the wider-format screen presents digital IMAX at up to 1.90:1 with no film capability.
The Empire, 5-6 Leicester Square, London, WC2H 7NA · Open in maps ↗
Excellent large-format presentation.
Spec sheet
- Projection
- IMAX GT Dual Laser
- Screen
- 26.5 m × 15.6 m (413 m²)
- Picture area
- 370 m² — 11% of the screen is never lit
- Screen shape
- 1.70:1 — the fabric itself
- Picture shown
- 1.90:1
- 15/70mm film
- No
- Sound
- IMAX 12-channel
- Seats
- 721
- Screen type
- Curved
- Opened
- 2018
- Operator
- Cineworld
Why IQ 68
370 m² of lit picture · full marks at 700 m² · one source
IMAX GT Dual Laser · 2 independent sources
1.90:1 · the widest frame this room can show
IMAX 12-channel · as published
⌷ Size is scored on the picture, not the fabric. This screen is taller than its projector's frame, so a chunk of it is never lit and doesn't count.
How big, really?
Drawn to scale · figure = 1.7 m
- 1Traumpalast Leonberg IMAX · 38.8×21.0 m · picture 792 m², 3% never lit
- 2BFI IMAX · 26×20.0 m · picture 473 m², 9% never lit
- 3Cineworld Leicester Square IMAX · 26.5×15.6 m · picture 370 m², 11% never lit
- 4Typical multiplex screen · 12 m wide, height not published
Scale check
Familiar objects, same scale as the screen
6 double-decker buses fit on this screen (2 across × 3 up · 413 m² total)
What you actually see
Switch format — watch what lights up on this screen · why this matters
IMAX digital — what most “IMAX” showings actually are
- Screen
- 413 m²
- Picture
- 370 m²
- Screen used
- 89%
1.7 m of this screen's height — 11% of it — stays dark for an IMAX 1.90 showing. The projector here can't produce the full 1.43 frame, so the top and bottom of the screen are never used at all.
Worth travelling for?
Your nearest premium screen isn't always the best one in reach
BFI IMAX
London · 0.9 mi away
You'd get 26% more screen, real 15/70mm film.
IMAX: The Ronson Theatre, Science Museum
London · 2.0 mi away
You'd get real 15/70mm film, the full 1.43 frame.
Better screens within 75 mi
•Where to next
Every premium screen in London · All of United Kingdom
Also in London
Elsewhere in United Kingdom
Other Cineworld screens
Where this comes from
Single sourceWe treat a figure as confirmed only when two independent sources agree.
- Screen dimensions
- one source, listed twice — these copy each other
- · imaxguide, the r/IMAX database ↗
- · LF Examiner industry listing (2021)
- Projector
- confirmed by 2 sources
- · LF Examiner industry listing (2021)
- · imaxguide, the r/IMAX database ↗
- Operating status
- verified open
Showtimes
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