To spot the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square, just look for the bold black granite facade and the towering structure in front of you, right in the heart of Leicester Square, with ODEON gleaming in big letters on a tall, 120-foot tower - you really can’t miss it, especially with those modern glass doors and the giant movie banners shouting for your attention.
Now, picture yourself standing outside one of cinema’s most iconic addresses - the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square, a place where Hollywood glitz meets British grandeur. If you listen closely, you might even hear a faint echo of camera shutters clicking during endless film premieres here over the decades.
This site wasn’t always all about movies, popcorn, and the hush of anticipation just before the screen flickers to life. Once, this very plot belonged to Nevill’s Victorian Turkish baths-you could get steamed up in more ways than one! Beside it stood the grand Alhambra Theatre, a music hall with stories stretching back to the 1850s. But in 1937, a vision took shape - the site was swept clean, the air buzzed with the clang and bang of construction, and Sir Robert McAlpine’s team got to work. They spent a princely sum-£550,000 for the land, and £232,755 more to build the cinema - and all this in just seven months! The result was a masterpiece of Art Deco design by Harry Weedon and Andrew Mather. And when the doors first swung open for the premiere of The Prisoner of Zenda, the glitterati of London flocked to see not just the movie, but the cinema.
Inside, the place was a feast for the eyes. Imagine walking into an auditorium with its ribbed ceiling and glowing strip-lights hidden in coves, with two bold bas relief sculptures of naked nymphs leaping towards the silver screen. Don’t worry, they’ve had their clothes off since 1937 - it’s historic, not risqué! The seats, covered in a fabulous faux-leopard skin pattern, could seat over 2,100 movie lovers at once. Talk about making a dramatic entrance, and not just for the stars!
Through the decades, the Odeon became a pioneer, always keeping up with the latest in cinema tech. Here, in the early fifties, a brand-new widescreen was unveiled for Tonight We Sing-a technological leap that must have made jaws drop and monocles pop into Champagne flutes. Not long after, the UK’s first CinemaScope screen brought The Robe to life in glorious panoramic detail. Can you imagine the gasps in the crowd, dazzled not just by the film, but by the sheer size and spectacle?
The building’s always been a bit of a shape-shifter. Over the years, it saw modernisations, refurbishments, and the occasional leopard print comeback. The original ribbed plasterwork was mostly smoothed away in 1967, but revivals in the nineties brought back those nymphs for an encore, along with that old-school upholstery. More recently, crank up the luxury! In 2018, Odeon pulled out all the stops and gave the whole cinema a swanky facelift to become Odeon Luxe-they even installed the first Dolby Cinema screen in the UK, turning the blockbuster experience up to eleven.
In the main auditorium, you’ll find all the bells and whistles: a cutting-edge Dolby Vision dual-laser projection system and a Dolby Atmos sound system that’ll make you feel every explosion, every whisper, every swoosh of a hero’s cape. This place is the largest single-screen cinema in the UK that’s kept its stalls and circle, all while hosting the Royal Film Performance and countless premieres. Need a bit of extra comfort? Sink into one of 22 full-recliner seats in the Royal Box, or maybe check if the Royal Retiring Room is available - Her Majesty probably left it just the way she likes it.
For a touch of nostalgia, the Odeon even kept a working Compton organ, restored and ready to serenade lucky filmgoers. And though today’s digital projectors make things look effortless, for years the Odeon ran film and digital side by side-just in case one decided to have a diva moment and break down.
Pop inside Oscar’s Bar, named for founder Oscar Deutsch, and peek out at Leicester Square through the glass balcony-a perfect vantage point for stargazing, or just for people-watching as you wonder what famous feet have walked this way before yours.
After all these years, this grand old cinema still manages to reinvent itself, proving that you really can teach an old building new tricks-and you can do it with a bit of style, a few zebra prints, and maybe just a little help from the movies.
Curious about the technical specifications, screens 2 - 5 or the recent developments? Don't hesitate to reach out in the chat section for additional details.
