Nu Metro Cinemas is a South African

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ...

company. Its head office is in Dunkeld West,

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

. Nu Metro's history dates to when the first Metro Theatre opened in Johannesburg in 1932. The oldest still-operating Nu Metro cineplex is Bedford, which opened in 1972. The company changed its name from Metro Theatres to Nu Metro Theatres in February, 1988, and then to Nu Metro Cinemas in 2008. Ownership of the company has changed hands multiple times over its 80-plus-year history. Most recently, it was owned by the

Times Media Group Arena Holdings, formerly known as Tiso Blackstar Group, Johnnic Communications, Avusa and Times Media Group, is a media company in South Africa. Avusa means "to rouse feelings, to revive and evoke action". The name was changed in 2007 in order to ...

until 31 December 2013, when it, together with wholly owned subsidiary Popcorn Digital Cinema Advertising, were sold to an independent consortium for R75 million. Nu Metro Cinemas currently operates 21 cineplexes in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

, making it the second-largest cinema operator in the country, after Ster-Kinekor Theatres. The first film to feature digital audio at Nu Metro was

Jurassic Park ''Jurassic Park'', later also referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton and centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of cloned dinosaurs. It began in 1990 when ...

, in 1993, which played at Bedford Cinema 2 in DTS. Nu Metro's first DCP-compliant digital screen was Montecasino Cinema 11, which went live in December, 2006, with the animated movie

Happy Feet ''Happy Feet'' is a 2006 computer-animated jukebox musical comedy film directed, produced, and co-written by George Miller. It stars the voices of Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Brittany Murphy, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Hugo Weaving, and ...

Night at the Museum ''Night at the Museum'' is a 2006 fantasy comedy film directed by Shawn Levy and written by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon. It is based on the 1993 children's book of the same name by Croatian illustrator Milan Trenc. The film had an ense ...

was its first

live action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ...

DCP-compliant digital movie. In 2009, Nu Metro Cinemas opened Africa's first all-digital cinema complex at

Emperors Palace An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (empr ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

. By 2013, 35 mm film had become obsolete on the circuit, with all cineplexes having been converted to DCP-compliant digital screens. Late in 2014, Nu Metro opened Scene Xtreme cinemas at The Glen and Menlyn Park. The Scene Xtreme offering is similar to the large screen format offered by

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graeme ...

. The concept features 4K digital projection, immersive 11.1-channel sound, and reclining seats.

References

External links

{{Portal, South Africa, Film, Companies
First African digital cinema multiplex to open

Official Nu Metro Cinemas website
Cinema chains in South Africa Culture of Johannesburg Companies based in Johannesburg