Movie theater
A venue designed for audiences to watch films projected or displayed on a large screen, usually with shared seating and sound.
Digital cinema: The production, distribution, and exhibition of films using digital files and projection systems. Most modern theaters receive and project films as encrypted digital packages.
Edison film studio: An early American motion-picture production facility established by Thomas Edison’s company in New Jersey. Its films helped supply the first commercial moving-picture exhibitions.
Film premiere: The first public presentation of a film, often accompanied by publicity and invited guests. Premieres use theaters as focal points for a film’s public launch.
Box office: The revenue generated by ticket sales for theatrical performances or film screenings. Ticket receipts measure a theater release’s commercial performance.
Film projector: An optical device that advances film frames through a light beam to display moving images on a screen. Traditional theaters create the image by moving film through a projector.
Kinetoscope: A late-nineteenth-century device that let one person view a motion picture through a peephole. Its parlors preceded theaters by selling moving pictures to individual viewers.
Film festival: An organized program of film screenings, often featuring premieres, awards, or a selected theme. Festival venues host curated screenings beyond ordinary commercial release schedules.
Windowing (film distribution): The scheduling of a film’s release across theaters, home video, streaming, and other channels. Theatrical exclusivity has shaped when films reach other viewing platforms.
Cinema sound: Audio systems and formats designed to reproduce film sound in theaters. Distributed speakers make dialogue, music, and effects audible across the auditorium.
Nickelodeon: An early twentieth-century storefront venue that showed short films for a low admission price. These small, inexpensive venues established regular public film exhibition.