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About how big of a building do I need to have 4 screens with about 100 seats in each?

I'm not going to do all the math for you, but here's some dimensions to help you figure out your width, length and height...

Seats are 19-23" wide, depending on what you order.

Aisles are 44" wide, and rows should be about 48" back-to-back.

From the first row of seats to the screeen wall, you'll need about 50% of the screen height... so a 20' tall screen would be about 10' to the first row.

Screen aspects are 1.85:1 for FLAT films and 2.35:1 for SCOPE films. You will get films in both of these aspects, so you have to determine if you should go for a screen maxed in width or height.

Generally, a screen maxed in height is maxed in SCOPE and a screen maxed in width is maxed in FLAT. If you were to max in flat, you would likely get a bigger picture, but your screen will also be like a giant television. SCOPE films are more like the aspect of paper money.

Add about 2' above the screen and 5' below, plus 1-2' around the screen sides to get the front wall size. A few more feet may need to be added above the ceiling in the auditorium for rafters, etc.

So basically, figure you want 5 seats, an aisle, 5 more seats and that will be a row in your theatre, times 10. That's 100 seats, and about 23' in width.

Your screen would now be 20' wide. I'm going to max it in SCOPE, giving you a height of about 8'6".

Now, add 5' below your screen and 2' above, and you get an auditorium height of 15'6". Another 2 feet for rafters and ducts should be good. You need a building with a height of about 18'.

10 rows by 48" back-to-back would be a length of 40 feet, plus 10' (not proportional because 4' would be too little, and its good to give as much room as possible), plus 10' at the back (assuming behind the last row of seats in an aisle running the width of the room, and guests enter the room from the back. You'll also need up to 3' behind the screen for speakers. Your total length will then be 63', but that's just being safe, you could go for less than that.

That's a square footage of 1449. So, multiply that by 4 and you'll need at least 5796 sq. feet for just your viewing rooms. You'll also need room for your lobby, storage rooms, concession, office, projection booth(s), washrooms and staff, even an arcade.

Well, looks like I ended up doing most of your math.

Andrew-
Thanks a million! That helps alot!!!

Andrew/ I want to compliment you. You have come a long way from when you were a young kid pretending to own a theatre. You have stayed with the business and us and you have learned a lot and now you are in a position to truly be a teacher. Good work. Perserverence is one of the best business strengths and you have it in spades.

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Michael Hurley
Impresario

No problem ajgalbraith98...

Thanks Mike.

Oh, and I hope I didn't sound snobby in that post. I was cranky because "People's Court" was a repeat!