AMC Broadway Plaza 12, Odeon Broadway Plaza
Broadway Plaza was a £60m development on the site of the original Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and was due to include a 22-screen AMC cinema opening in 2002. In the event the cinema’s launch was delayed by over a year, and when it did open in October 2003 it only had 12 screens. (Apparently the other 10 ‘ghost screens’ are still hidden away inside the building.)
In 2012 it became part of the Odeon chain, and then in 2018 Odeon undertook a massive refurbishment as part of the Luxe scheme which saw capacity reduce to 1264 seats (all reclining) and the installation of an iSense screen with Dolby Atmos. Coincidentally, the cinema is adjacent to the site of the original King Edward VI Five Ways School, attended by Odeon founder Oscar Deutsch in the late 1900s.
220 Ladywood Middleway, B16 8LP
“When I go to the cinema with a friend, I like to sit close to them, have a little gossip before the film, talk about the trailers and laugh at the adverts. I like to feel I am there with a friend and not separated by some sort of school class seating plan that leaves me feeling isolated. The renovations done by Odeon have provided more luxurious seating and tables for those using them. Unfortunately, these changes have not provided the same level of improvement for disabled patrons.”
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“The facility will be especially useful for customers on the front two rows of each screen to enable them to get a much better view than in the old days […] With triple legroom in between each row, there will be no danger of the person behind kicking the back of your chair either.”
“Watching Avengers Endgame in Broadway Plaza was one of my most memorable cinema experiences. After years of the cinema being in decline + empty seats the whole cinema was packed. Every revelation, action packed scene prompted shouts, gasps, screaming, laughter. It was a collective experience, like being at a gig. I’d never experienced cinema like it, and would only happen in Brum!’”
