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A typical AMC Theatres multiplex.

A multiplex is a movie theater complex with three or more screens. The largest of these are sometimes referred to as megaplex. Definitions vary (the border between the two may be 12, 16, or 20). Megaplex theaters sometimes feature stadium seating and other amenities often not found at smaller movie theaters. Multiplex theatres nearly always feature regular seating; however, the screens are nearly always smaller than those found in movie palaces.

In each town, a multiplex would often put the town's smaller theaters out of business. They were often coupled with other big box stores that were reaching their zenith at the time. The expansion was executed much too quickly, and almost all the major movie theater companies went bankrupt at this time, although the daily operations of the local theaters were not much affected.

For several years the world's largest theater was the 18 screen Cineplex in Toronto's Eaton Centre. The world's first 20 screen multiplex is Studio 28 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which reopened in 1988 with a seating capacity of 6,000. [1] The first multiplex in the world is the Kinepolis Brussels in Brussels, Belgium, which opened in 1988 with 25 screens. The first multiplex in the United States is the AMC Grand built in 1995 with 24 screens.

Studio 28 and the AMC Grand 24 sparked a wave of megaplexes across the United States. This was financed in part by private equity money and caused a dramatic shift in the American urban landscape. AMC Theatres has since then led the way and has built many megaplexes with upwards of 30 screens.

The largest megaplex in the Southern Hemisphere is the 26-screen Megaplex Marion in Adelaide, South Australia. The auditoriums sit on top of Westfield Marion, which is the largest shopping complex in Adelaide.

In India, the mushrooming of multiplexes since the mid-90s has changed the dynamics of the Indian Film Industry. Production costs are now recovered in days, not months and viewers have really caught on to the concept. There have been concerns over high ticket prices and the phenomena has predominantly been restricted to the larger cities, but Indian cinema chains like PVR (Priya Village Roadshow), Inox and CineMax are slowly but surely changing the rules of exhibition in the world's largest film industry.

• Marlene Edmunds, "Kinepolis Keeps The Plexes Coming," Variety, June 15, 1998, p. 74.
• William Echikson, "Taking The Megaplex On The Road," Business Week, no. 3547 (Oct. 6, 1997), p. 21.

• Short film on the creation of the Cineplex

• Movie theater

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