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BFI IMAX

London · United KingdomPublished figures

UK's largest cinema screen, run by the BFI again since July 2022; a single-laser IMAX CoLa 4K system was fitted in the 2022 refurbishment (the booth was too small for the dual-laser GT rig) alongside its retained 15/70 film projector.

S
IQ 88

Destination screen. Worth travelling for.

Spec sheet

Projection
IMAX Commercial Laser
Screen
26 m × 20 m (520 m²)
Screen shape
1.30:1 — the fabric itself
Picture shown
1.90:1
15/70mm film
Yes — confirmed, ran The Odyssey in 70mm
Sound
IMAX 12-channel
Seats
493
Screen type
curved
Opened
1999
Operator
BFI

Why IQ 88

Screen size26/38
Projection36/36
Full 1.43 frame18/18
Sound8/8

How big, really?

Traumpalast Leonberg IMAX38.8×21m3% of this screen is never litBFI IMAX26×20m9% of this screen is never litTypical multiplex screen12×5m

Drawn to scale · figure = 1.7 m

Compare against any screen →

Scale check

Familiar objects, same scale as the screen

8 double-decker buss fit on this screen (2 across × 4 up · 520 m² total)

What you actually see

Switch format — watch what lights up on this screen · why this matters

Only on a 15/70mm print here — the digital projector caps at 1.90, so the same film shows smaller on a digital night.

dark
Screen
520
Picture
473
Screen used
91%

1.8 m of this screen — 9% of it — stays dark for a IMAX 1.43 showing.

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 this comes from

Published figures
Screen dimensions
published figure
Projector
trade press (2022 CoLa install)
15/70mm film
confirmed — on IMAX's own Odyssey 70mm engagement list
Aspect capability
derived from projector type, vetoed by screen geometry
Operating status
verified open

This record hasn't been checked against an independent database. 343 of our IMAX venues have been; the rest, mostly in China, rely on the source data alone.

Showtimes

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