Gateway IMAX

Umhlanga Rocks · South AfricaSingle source

PremiumCinemaIQ rates this IMAX room D, 29/100 — at the bottom of the premium range, 186 m² of lit picture. The projector rests on a dated source, so the score is indicative. Data read 5 November 2026.

1 Palm Boulevard - Gateway Theatre of Shopping - Expo/Explore Floor, Umhlanga Rocks.

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1 Palm Boulevard - Gateway Theatre of Shopping - Expo/Explore Floor, Umhlanga Rocks, 4321 · Open in maps ↗

Map position approximate (city centre)

~IQ 29provisional

Premium in name. Weigh it against the surcharge.

Spec sheet

Projection: IMAX Digital Xenon(as of 2021)
Screen: 18.8 m × 10.4 m (196 m²)
Screen shape: 1.81:1 — the fabric itself
Picture shown: 1.90:1
15/70mm film: No
Sound: Not published
Seats: Not published
Screen type: Not a dome — curvature not recorded
Opened: 2013
Operator

⚠ Still trading, but no longer an IMAX venue. Ster-Kinekor ceased trading 8 May 2025; the site was taken over by Nu Metro without IMAX.

The projector here comes from a 2021 industry listing that we haven't been able to re-confirm. IMAX has converted a lot of screens to laser since, so a 2021 label is a 2021 state rather than a current one. Treat the score as indicative.

Why IQ 29

Screen size10/38

186 m² of lit picture · full marks at 700 m² · one source

Projection11/36

IMAX Digital Xenon · recorded 2021 · one source

Full 1.43 frame8/18

1.90:1 · the widest frame this room can show

Sound0/8

no sound specification published

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
3Gateway IMAX · 18.8×10.4 m · picture 186 m², 5% never lit
4Typical multiplex screen · 12 m wide, height not published

Compare against any screen →

Scale check

Familiar objects, same scale as the screen

2 double-decker buses fit on this screen (1 across × 2 up · 196 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

dark

Screen: 196 m²
Picture: 186 m²
Screen used: 95%

0.5 m of this screen's height — 5% 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

Nothing materially better within 75 mi — this is your best option locally.

•Where to next

All of South Africa

Elsewhere in South Africa

Where this comes from

Single source

We treat a figure as confirmed only when two independent sources agree.

Screen dimensions: single source
Projector: single source
Operating status: verified not-imax (2025)

The projector here rests on a single source. It is the weakest field we hold across the network.

Showtimes

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