Empire Theatres

Empire Theatres Limited

Former type	Private (subsidiary of Empire Company Ltd.)
Industry	Movie theatres
Fate	24 sold to Cineplex in Atlantic Canada. 23 sold to Landmark Cinemas in Ontario and Western Canada. 3 others closed.
Successor	Cineplex Entertainment, Landmark Cinemas
Founded	1978
Defunct	2013
Headquarters	Stellarton, Nova Scotia
Area served	Canada
Key people	Stuart G. Fraser, President and CEO Valerie J. Ryan, COO Paul Wigginton, Vice-President and CFO
Number of employees	approx. 3000
Parent	Empire Company

Empire Theatres Limited was a movie theatre chain in Canada, a subsidiary of Empire Company Ltd., the holding company of the Sobey family conglomerate.

In June 2013, Empire announced it would exit the movie theatre business, selling the vast majority of locations to Cineplex (24 in Atlantic Canada) and Landmark Cinemas (23, in Ontario and western Canada, including two locations originally slated to be purchased by Cineplex and the Downtown Ottawa theatre). Three other locations in operation at the time of the announcement were not included in either deal which are now closed.

Empire Theatres was formed from the Sobey family's purchase of the Atlantic assets of Canadian Odeon Theatres (later Cineplex Entertainment) in 1984. Later, it also acquired selected Famous Players theatres locations, including those in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Famous Players remained a major competitor in the Maritimes. Empire responded by opening several new or replacement locations along the lines of the multiplexes being opened by Cineplex and Famous Players in the rest of Canada.

Despite an aggressive expansion in the Maritimes in the mid-1990s, Famous Players had focused on improvements elsewhere and did not match Empire's moves, one of which included an 18-screen (including one IMAX screen) multiplex in the Bayers Lake Business Park in suburban Halifax. With comparably minor interests in the region, Famous Players cut back on marketing and then sold its remaining screens in Atlantic Canada to Empire Theatres in 2004.

On August 22, 2005, Empire announced it would acquire 27 theatres, with a total of 202 screens, in locations from British Columbia to Ontario, from Cineplex Galaxy LP, as a result of the latter's acquisition of Famous Players Theatres, effectively doubling Empire's size. Most of the locations are smaller "traditional" venues, but some are larger theatres, such as Coliseum Calgary (now Empire Theatres Shawnessy), SilverCity theatres in Kitchener and St. Catharines, Ontario, one in Calgary, Alberta (now Empire Theatres Kitchener, Empire Theatres Pen Centre, and Empire Theatres Country Hills respectively), and Cineplex Odeon Square One in Mississauga (now Empire Theatres Square One). The deal closed September 30, 2005.