UCI Cinemas (''United Cinemas International'') is a brand of cinema, currently operating in Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Brazil, which has been owned since 2004 by Odeon Cinemas Group, whose owner is now AMC Theatres, except for the UCI Cinemas Brazil which also from the same year is owned by National Amusements.

History

The organization was announced in October 1988 as a joint venture between United Artists Theaters, United International Pictures (a partnership of Paramount Pictures,

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

and Universal Pictures), and AMC Theatres, to operate, under the AMC brand, 200 screens in the UK and Ireland with 3 new cinemas opening in Bochum, Bremen and

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

and a further 150 screens planned in the UK and Ireland by 1991. However, AMC pulled out of the joint venture in December 1988, and sold their U.K. assets to the new entity for $98 million and withdrew from the UK market, with the joint venture now known as Cinema International Corp./United Artists Communications Inc. The name was shortened the following year to United Cinemas International and they were based in Manchester, England, operating 86 cinemas initially. In the UK, the company operated cinemas under the UCI and later Thefilmworks brands, and initially enjoyed a sizeable market share. They took over the first multiplex cinema opened in the UK by AMC at The Point in Milton Keynes in 1985, and were one of the first to purchase a digital projector – costing a massive £130,000 – one out of only 30 worldwide. This enabled them to download films via satellite, and also play digital media disks rather than film. Under chairman Tom McGrath, the group expanded to build and operate cinemas in Brazil, China, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Spain, Taiwan, and the UK. The cinemas were, by and large, fairly simplistic in design and seemed steeped in 1980s traditions that quickly became dated. However, a later purchase by Terra Firma (see below) saw the chain merged with Odeon cinemas and henceforth adopting the far plusher Odeon style. In late 2004, the European division of UCI was bought by Terra Firma Capital Partners, along with rival chain Odeon Cinemas. The majority of UK UCI and ''thefilmworks'' cinemas were rebranded to use the Odeon name. As a condition of the merger with Odeon Cinemas (imposed by the Office of Fair Trading), UCI Clydebank, UCI Poole, UCI Sutton, UCI Basildon, The Empire Leicester Square and thefilmworks High Wycombe were sold to Empire Cinemas. Since the merger has been completed, few elements of former UCI cinemas still retain the UCI look and feel, they now almost all share the standard Odeon design cues, except for a handful of the former "Filmworks" brand whose designs did not lend themselves well to an Odeon "look". The UCI, UCI/Kinowelt and Cinesa brands will remain in Ireland and the rest of Europe. UCI Hull was evicted at around this time due to redevelopment. As there was already an Odeon there, it was not replaced. UCI's Brazilian branch, which was inaugurated in 1997 with its first cinema located in the Palladium mall in Curitiba, was acquired, also in 2004, by American conglomerate National Amusements, who also owns the Showcase Cinemas chain. Coca-Cola beverages sold in those cinemas were replaced by Pepsi, coincidentally Showcase's beverages. Their biggest cinema in Brazil and the biggest in Brazil, in general, is the New York City Center cinema in Rio de Janeiro, with 18 screens, including IMAX, 4DX, De Lux and XPlus screens. They also have SuperSeats and SuperD seats in select auditoriums throughout Brazil. Irish cinemas, although retaining the UCI name, were managed as part of Odeon Cinemas and introduced parts of their offer, such as Premier seating and the Odeon in-house magazine, "Onscreen". Advertising contained the Odeon logo font in many cases. In August 2007, UCI launched a new Irish website with an identical layout to odeon.co.uk. The Irish cinemas were sold to an Irish group, Entertainment Enterprises, in September 2006, but continued to be run by Odeon under a management contract. In April 2008, Entertainment Enterprises announced that it would be acquiring the ''Storm Cinemas'' chain except the

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

cinema, and would be contracting the management of the cinemas to Odeon. UCI's Tallaght cinema, the first opened in the country, was closed on 8 March 2010 after the landlords gave the company notice that their lease would not be renewed. On 31 May 2011, Odeon announced that it had bought back the UCI chain in Ireland (including the Storm Cinemas-branded locations) from Entertainment Enterprises. Irish cinemas were rebranded under the Odeon name in 2012 to coincide with the new cinema opening at the Point Village in Dublin, as of the end of 2013 the UCI name is no longer used in any cinemas in the UK & Ireland, all are now branded Odeon. The Odeon in-house magazine "Onscreen" was rebranded and relaunched as "Odeon" magazine in 2012. In early 2019, the three cinemas in Austria were sold and rebranded as part of Cineplexx Cinemas.

Current locations

Brazil

* Belém - Shopping Bosque Grão-Pará * Campo Grande - Shopping Bosque dos Ipês * Canoas - Park Shopping Canoas * Curitiba – Shopping Estação, Shopping Palladium * Fortaleza – Shopping Iguatemi Fortaleza, Shopping Parangaba * Juiz de Fora – Shopping Independência * Manaus - Sumaúma Park Shopping *

Recife Recife ( , ) is the Federative units of Brazil, state capital of Pernambuco, Brazil, on the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of South America. It is the largest urban area within both the North Region, Brazil, North and the Northeast R ...

– Shopping Recife, Shopping Plaza Casaforte, SHopping Tacarauna * Ribeirão Preto – Ribeirão Shopping *

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

– New York City Center, NorteShopping, Park Shopping Campo Grande * Salvador – Shopping da Bahia, Shopping Paralela, Shopping Barra * São Luís - Shopping da Ilha *

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

– Shopping Jardim Sul, Shopping Anália Franco, Santana Parque Shopping

Germany

* Bad Oeynhausen *

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

– am Eastgate * Berlin – Colosseum * Berlin – Gropius Passagen * Berlin – East Side Gallery * Bochum – Ruhrpark * Cottbus – am Lausitz Park * Dessau-Roßlau – Dessau * Dresden – Elbe Park *

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

* Duisburg * Flensburg *

Gera Gera () is a city in the German state of Thuringia. With around 93,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Thuringia after Erfurt and Jena as well as the easternmost city of the ''Thüringer Städtekette'', an almost straight string of ...

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

– Mundsburg *

– Othmarschen Park *

– Smart City (Wandsbek) * Hürth – Hürth-Park * Kaiserslautern * Leipzig – Günthersdorf Nova Eventis *

Neuss Neuss (; written ''Neuß'' until 1968; ; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is on the west bank of the Rhine opposite Düsseldorf. Neuss is the largest city within the Rhein-Kreis Neuss district. It is primarily known for its ...

* Nordhorn * Paderborn * Potsdam * Wilhelmshaven

Italy

* Alessandria * Arezzo *

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

* Bologna * Bolzano * Casalecchio di Reno * Casoria * Catania * Como * Curno * Fano * Ferrara * Fiume Veneto *

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

* Genoa * Gioia del Colle * Gualtieri * Iesi * Lissone * Marcianise * Marcon * Matera *

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

* Molfetta * Moncalieri * Orio al Serio * Palermo * Piacenza * Pioltello *

Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...

* Porto Sant'Elpidio * Reggio Emilia *

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

* Savignano sul Rubicone * Sinalunga *

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

* Verona * Vicenza * Villesse

Portugal

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

- Ubbo *

- El Corte Ingles *

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

- Arrábida Shopping

References

External links

UCI Cinemas (Brazil)

UCI Kinowelt (Germany)

UCI Cinemas (Italy)

UCI Cinemas (Portugal)

Odeon Cinemas Group
{{National Amusements AMC Theatres Cinema chains in Austria Cinema chains in Brazil Cinema chains in Germany Cinema chains in Italy Cinema chains in Portugal Entertainment companies established in 1988 Former cinema chains in the Republic of Ireland Former cinema chains in the United Kingdom 2004 mergers and acquisitions Former joint ventures