This is a list of cinemas that exist or have existed in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Name
Location
Opened
Closed
Screens
Notes
Image
Academy Theatre
Bloor and Lansdowne
1934
1965
1
Albion Cinemas
Albion and Kipling
3
Shows Hindi, Punjabi, Telugu, Tamil and Bengali films.
Alhambra
568 Bloor Street, west of Bathurst
1910
1986
1
Also known as the King George, Baronet, and also the Eve, a porn cinema.
AMC Kennedy Commons 20
Kennedy and 401
1998
August 2012
20
Avalon Theatre
2923 Danforth west of Victoria Park
1926
1955
1
Clyde Theatre until 1930
Avenue Theatre
Eglinton and Avenue
1938
1955
1
Backstage
Yonge and Bloor
c1970
c2000
2
Opened as part of the conversion of Loew's Uptown into a multiplex, but reached by a separate entrance; originally considered part of that multiplex, and called the Uptown Backstage.
Originally Allen's Bloor Theatre, Famous Players acquired it in 1923 and operated it until 1957. Became the Blue Orchid nightclub and has been Lee's Palace music venue since 1985.
Was originally The Globe burlesque and vaudeville; renamed the Roxy in 1933 and Broadway in 1937; was burlesque and film until its demolition for Sheraton Hotel.
Not to be confused with the far more famous Odeon Carlton; this was a much smaller theatre on Parliament Street just north of Carlton Street. After closing as a movie house, it was used as a CBC studio and is currently the Canadian Children's Dance Theatre.
Specialized in independent and foreign films and was a mainstay venue for the Toronto International Film Festival. Owned by Famous Players until 1997 when it was sold to Alliance. Owned and operated by Cineplex from 2005 until close.[4]
Later was the Naaz[6] and then the India Centre mall.[7] In 2015 it was heavily renovated and converted to apartments with retail on the ground floor.[8]
First venue in the Cineplex chain. Originally known as "Cineplex 18", then expanded to "Cineplex 21", then four auditoriums were combined into one. Considered the world's first megaplex.
Originally part of a twin live theatre, the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres. When the upstairs Winter Garden closed in 1928, the lower theatre was converted to a cinema, which was known variously as Loew's, the Elgin, and the Yonge. It was then closed and both theatres were restored and are now theatre venues.
Oldest theatre in continuous operation in Toronto.
Garden Theatre (later known as Elektra, Cinema Lumiere, Chang's)
290 College St, near Spadina
1916
1986
1
Opened as the Garden Theatre, so named because of its roof garden. It was a vaudeville venue before becoming the Garden Cinema in 1937.[10] In 1950, the second floor was converted into the Garden Billiard Academy and then in 1960 the New Garden Billaird Academy. The cinema on the first floor was renamed the Elektra in 1965, closing in 1969. The entire building served as a pool hall until 1972 when Cinema Lumiere, a repertory art cinema, opened and operated until 1980 when it became Chang's Theatre, a Chinese cinema featuring "Taiwanese porn with religious overtones". Chang's closed in 1983. 18 months later, the venue again became Cinema Lumiere in 1985, featuring art films, foreign and alternative films but closed again in 1986 when its roof collapsed during a rainstorm. The building later became a computer store and then a Home Hardware.[11][12]
Converted from two houses to a theatre that in 1911 the theatre known as The Bonita has gone through many incarnations since the 1970s (Greek, Hong Kong, Bollywood, Tamil) before becoming an independent cinema hub devoted to art, schlock, indie and foreign programming from around the world.
Has also been known as The Wellington, Krishna Cinema, Sri Lakshmi and Gerrard Cinema before re-opening in 2011 as an art house cinema, the Projection Booth. In 2013 it briefly closed due to a falling out among its owners and then re-opened as The Big Picture with Jonathan Hlibka as sole proprietor but closed as of 2016.[14] It reopened in April 2019 as The Grand Gerrard Theatre.[15]
Built in 1941 on the site of the Madison Theatre (1913), which was demolished in 1940. Known as the Midtown, Capri, Eden and Bloor Cinemas. Took the name Bloor when the old Bloor, now Lee's Palace, closed. Today, it is operated as the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema, with documentary films predominantly featured, but also a host to other film festivals. Purchased by the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in 2016, using a $4 million gift from the Rogers Foundation, and was rebranded as the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema.[16]
One of the five original Odeon theaters built in Toronto. Closed in 2003 due to poor attendance. Reopened in April 2011 by Rui Pereira (owner of the Kingsway Cinema).[17] Expanded from 2 to 4 cinemas in 2012. Permanently closed in May 2019.[18]
Originally a single cinema and vaudeville house called the Pantages; renamed the Imperial in 1930 and exclusively a movie house; converted 1973 to the 6-screen Imperial Six; converted back to single-screen Pantages 1987; closed 1988 and eventually converted to become one of Toronto's main stage venues, first called the Pantages again, then the Canon, and now the Ed Mirvish Theatre.
Has been an adult movie theatre since 1978; the last such cinema in Toronto. In August 2012 it was announced that the Metro would become home to the art schlock indie foreign cinematic model under the same management of Projection Booth. However, after a falling out among the owners, The Metro closed permanently in December 2013.[19][20]
Mount Pleasant Cinema
Mount Pleasant and Eglinton
1926
1
Opened in 1926 as the Hudson Theatre.
New Yorker Theatre
Yonge and Bloor
1919
unknown
1
Opened as the Victoria in 1919. Demolished, but some of the facade used in the Panasonic Theatre on the site.
The Revue is the oldest purpose-built movie theatre presently operating in Toronto. The Revue operated continuously from 1912 to 2006. It re-opened in 2007 under new ownership and is managed by a non-profit organization.
Rialto Theatre
Yonge and Shuter
Early 20th century
1
Rio Theatre
Yonge and Gerrard
1913
1991
1
Opened as The Big Nickel Theatre in 1913. By 1922 it had been renamed National Theatre and was renamed Rio Theatre in 1943 serving as a grindhouse until it closed in 1991.
Robinson's Musee Theatre
Yonge and Adelaide (91-93 Yonge Street)
1890
1905
1
Originally a curio museum, this hall was the site of the first screening of a motion picture in Toronto on August 31, 1896.[26] On the second floor, it had a curio shop and waxworks, and the roof had an animal menagerie. It changed hands several times, was renamed the Bijou[27] and was the first site of Shea's Theatre. Built by Richard A. Waite and destroyed by fire in 1905.
Designed as a first-run theatre by Toronto-based architectural firm Searle, Wilbee, Rowland. Seating was provided for 682 & 344. Was a live cabaret venue for a short period. Now used as conference rooms.
Originally Cineplex Odeon Fairview, became Rainbow Cinemas Willowdale from 1988 to 2008 with 8 screens. The theatre features a Screening Room and Lounge.
Began as a Yiddish live theatre, becoming a cinema in the mid-1930s first as the Strand, then as the Victory. Was a live burlesque theatre from 1959 until the mid-1970s. As the Mandarin and the Golden Harvest was a Chinese-language cinema from the late-1970s until it closed.
Stanford Theatre
Queen and Spadina
Early 20th century
1
Teck Theatre
Queen and Broadview
1
Tivoli Theatre
Yonge and Richmond
1965
1
Site of the first talking film in Toronto in 1928.
Originally the single-screen Loew's Uptown Theatre. Converted into one of the world's first multiplexes. At that time the Backstage Theatre, then called the Uptown Backstage, was considered part of it. Eventually closed due to a court decision on accessibility, and demolished.
^ ab"About Paradise". Paradise Theatre. Retrieved 5 October 2019. In 1910, the "one-storey brick theatorium" Bloor Palace is built on the corner of Bloor and Westmoreland. The venue is renamed The Kitchener in 1918 ... Paradise Theatre is born in 1937, built in the Art Deco and Art Moderne styles under the direction of one of Toronto's earliest practising Jewish architects, Benjamin Brown. The new venue had 643 seats ...
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