BFI IMAX
Britain's biggest cinema screen opened in 1999 at Waterloo's Bullring. It took just a year to transform the desolate roundabout at the end of Waterloo Bridge and within the first 12 months it is estimated that half a million people visited the new attraction.
Canadian-founded IMAX corporation has opened 180 cinemas but the £20 million Waterloo IMAX, part funded by National Lottery money, has the most sophisticated motion-picture projection system yet. The 26mx20m screen is the height of five double-decker buses and the 482-seater auditorium has digital surround sound.
The London IMAX is part of the British Film Institute which screens feature films, shorts and television programmes to audiences at the nearby BFI Southbank.
Until 2006 the outside of the IMAX building featured a mural by Howard Hodgkin. Amid some controversy the building is now used as a giant advertising billboard.
Prices: Standard film prices £8.50, Concessions £6.25, Students £6.25, Children £5.25
News & features about BFI IMAX
- Rough sleepers moved on from Waterloo's IMAX subways and Leake Street (27 Mar 2013)
- Waterloo's 'Cardboard City' featured in new short film (18 Mar 2013)
- Pedestrian in critical condition after Waterloo Road taxi collision (16 Mar 2013)
- Violent New Year's Day attack at Waterloo Station: police appeal (13 Feb 2013)
- Dog and Pot sculpture installed in Blackfriars Road (4 Feb 2013)
- Six-month trial for 20 mph speed limit at Waterloo IMAX junction (4 Feb 2013)
- Red Cross Garden Christmas fayre rounds off Octavia Hill centenary (18 Dec 2012)
- Dog and pot sculpture to be installed as Dickens bicentenary year ends (6 Dec 2012)
- Waterloo and Bermondsey cycle safety changes "too timid" says Caroline Pidgeon (1 Nov 2012)
- TfL proposes 20 mph limit and new cycle lanes at Waterloo IMAX roundabout (22 Oct 2012)
- Odeon takes over Waterloo's BFI IMAX cinema in five-year deal (20 Jul 2012)
- Olympic rings unveiled at Tower Bridge (27 Jun 2012)
- David Bomberg collection goes on show at LSBU Borough Road Gallery (21 Jun 2012)
- Henry V at Shakespeare's Globe (15 Jun 2012)
- Joanna Lumley supports drive to end rough sleeping in Lambeth (27 Mar 2012)
- Lambeth Bridge, St George's Circus & Waterloo in cycle safety review (7 Feb 2012)
- Orpheus in the Underworld at the Young Vic (3 Dec 2011)
- Elephant, Waterloo and Vauxhall top the cycle collision league (20 Oct 2011)
- Events Academy provides training for Southwark young people (4 Sep 2011)
- Globe Mysteries at Shakespeare's Globe (11 Aug 2011)
- King James Bible anniversary celebrated at Lambeth Palace exhibition (5 Jun 2011)
- Once Upon A Wartime at the Imperial War Museum (11 Feb 2011)
- Dominic Dromgoole to stay at Shakespeare's Globe till 2014 (10 Feb 2011)
- Waterloo subway poem to be restored (18 Jan 2011)
- Shadows of the Wanderer sculpture arrives at St John's Waterloo (31 Oct 2010)
Forum discussions about BFI IMAX
- Waterloo Roundabout Junction Review
- Sick of all the push bikers jumping lights on Borough High St
- None supporting local boy David Haye this weekend then?
- Traffic Monday night
- Waterloo Brasserie
- We are lucky to have an IMAX in SE1
- Illuminated Advertising displays - planning consent
- Devon Mansions - Vertical Garden
- Waterloo City Square
- Dark Knight dilemma
- Police stopping and searching in Waterloo
- Did you vote for BFI Southbank - I did.
- Cheeky boys visit
- Empire Building Cable Broadband
- Suggests for the IMAX Cinema After Gathering
- Coin Street's revised plans for a tower of only 43 storeys - still a betrayal of their founding principles?
- SE1 Deal Cards
- London Eye 25 million celebration
- Homeless people and drugs problem outside St John's church, Waterloo
- Roadworks in the middle of the night
Restaurants, pubs & bars close to BFI IMAX
- Film Cafe (20 yards)
- Black & Blue (72 yards)
- Studio Lounge (74 yards)
- Royal House Cafe (78 yards)
- The Hole in the Wall (88 yards)
- Azzurro (100 yards)
- Smaland Coffee (130 yards)
- Sports Bar & Grill (140 yards)
- Yo! Sushi (148 yards)
- Pizza Express (162 yards)
- Brasserie Blanc (162 yards)
- Caprini Restaurant (162 yards)
- Chicken Cottage (164 yards)
- Waterloo Grill (168 yards)
- The Thames (170 yards)
- Fishcotheque (180 yards)