As of July 2026. Screen dimensions for commercial multiplexes are rarely published officially by theater chains, so figures below are triangulated from IMAX, AMC, and Regal materials alongside large-format enthusiast trackers (Cinema Treasures, AVS Forum, LF Examiner) and flagged as approximate where an exact figure isn’t publicly confirmed.
If you’ve ever left a theater feeling like you just watched a movie instead of stepping inside one, screen size is probably why. Manhattan has one of the country’s best clusters of oversized screens — from a genuine 15/70 IMAX giant to Dolby Cinema houses and Regal’s RPX format — but the difference between them is bigger than marketing copy suggests. Here’s where the screens are actually big, how big, and what that buys you.
First, a quick primer on formats
Not every “premium” screen is created equal:
- True IMAX (15/70 or IMAX with Laser, film-capable): The gold standard. These auditoriums are built around a genuinely oversized screen and, in rare cases, can project 70mm film shot specifically for IMAX cameras. Only a handful exist in the U.S.
- Digital IMAX: Uses IMAX-branded digital projectors, but the screen itself is often only modestly larger than the standard auditorium next door. It carries the IMAX name and sound package without the massive scale.
- PLF / RPX (Regal’s Premium Large Format): Regal’s answer to IMAX — bigger screen, Dolby Atmos or comparable sound, sometimes haptic “Buttkicker” seats.
- Dolby Cinema: Less about raw width, more about Dolby Vision laser projection (deeper black levels, brighter highlights) paired with Atmos sound. Screens are large but the format’s real selling point is image quality, not size.
- Standard / XL screens: AMC’s newer “XL at AMC” designation marks any screen at least 40 feet wide with 4K laser projection, even outside a branded PLF house.
The screens, biggest first
AMC Lincoln Square 13 (IMAX with Laser)
1998 Broadway, at W. 68th Street
This is the one to build a trip around. The Lincoln Square IMAX screen is consistently reported at roughly 75.6 feet tall by 101 feet wide, making it the largest IMAX screen in the United States and, by most industry accounts, the second-largest IMAX 70mm screen in the world after a theater in Melbourne, Australia. It’s a true 15/70 film-capable house, meaning select releases still run in genuine 70mm — a format with more resolution than any digital projector in the city. Renovated seating is underway, but the screen itself remains the draw; expect sellouts for any tentpole release, and book early.
AMC 34th Street 14 (IMAX with Laser + Dolby Cinema)
312 W. 34th Street, near Ninth Avenue
A genuine two-format house: an IMAX with Laser screen that large-format trackers estimate at around 54 feet wide by 30 feet tall — smaller than Lincoln Square, but still one of the bigger screens in Midtown — plus a separate Dolby Cinema auditorium (no officially published width) prized for its projection quality over its size. Both are laser-upgraded.
AMC Kips Bay 15 (IMAX with Laser)
570 Second Avenue, at Kips Bay
Kips Bay’s IMAX auditorium is estimated by enthusiast trackers at around 60 feet wide by 27.5 feet tall — wider than 34th Street’s but noticeably shorter, giving it an unusually wide aspect ratio for the format. It doesn’t have a Dolby Cinema; AMC has said in the past that the building’s auditoriums don’t meet Dolby’s technical criteria.
AMC Empire 25 (Digital IMAX + Dolby Cinema + XL)
234 W. 42nd Street, Times Square
Empire 25’s IMAX is a digital installation, not a true 15/70 house, with a screen reported at 58 feet wide by 28 feet tall since it opened. It’s respectably large but has drawn criticism over the years — including a well-known 2008–09 dust-up in the large-format trade press — for carrying the IMAX name on a screen far smaller than Lincoln Square’s. The theater also runs a Dolby Cinema auditorium and one of AMC’s largest non-PLF (“XL”) screens, informally estimated around 60 feet wide, though AMC hasn’t published an exact figure.
Regal E-Walk / Regal Times Square (RPX)
247 W. 42nd Street, Times Square
Regal’s Times Square multiplex (its RPX auditoriums have also been marketed as “Regal Times Square” or “Regal E-Walk 4DX & RPX”) has two large screens, estimated around 62 feet wide each — one of which has previously hosted 70mm engagements, including The Hateful Eight in Ultra Panavision. Regal’s own marketing materials for the venue’s private-event program cite 40-foot screens for its standard auditoriums, underscoring how much bigger the RPX houses are by comparison.
Regal Union Square (RPX / 70mm)
850 Broadway, at 13th Street
Union Square’s 17-screen complex includes a 281-seat RPX auditorium with Dolby Atmos and a 293-seat house capable of 70mm presentations — notable rarities outside the IMAX venues above. No publicly confirmed screen width could be found for either; treat any number you see elsewhere as unverified until Regal or a credible large-format source publishes one.
Honorable mention: Radio City Music Hall
1260 Avenue of the Americas
Radio City occasionally screens film on a large hanging screen for special events, and its stage is famously enormous, but it isn’t a regular commercial cinema and doesn’t have a fixed, published screen width for film presentation — it’s included here as a curiosity, not a recommendation for regular moviegoing.
A note on what’s gone: the Ziegfeld
The Ziegfeld Theatre at 141 W. 54th Street was Manhattan’s last great single-screen movie palace, famous for an enormous screen of its own. It closed as a cinema in 2016 and now operates as the Ziegfeld Ballroom, an event space — a piece of the city’s large-screen history, not a current option.
Quick-reference table
| Venue | Screen width | Format | Address |
|---|---|---|---|
| AMC Lincoln Square 13 | ~101 ft (75.6 ft tall) | True IMAX w/ Laser, 70mm-capable | 1998 Broadway |
| Regal E-Walk / Times Square | ~62 ft (reported, unconfirmed) | RPX | 247 W 42nd St |
| AMC Kips Bay 15 | ~60 ft (reported, unconfirmed) | IMAX w/ Laser | 570 Second Ave |
| AMC Empire 25 (XL screen) | ~60 ft (reported, unconfirmed) | XL at AMC | 234 W 42nd St |
| AMC Empire 25 (IMAX) | ~58 ft | Digital IMAX w/ Laser | 234 W 42nd St |
| AMC 34th Street 14 | ~54 ft (reported, unconfirmed) | IMAX w/ Laser | 312 W 34th St |
| Regal Union Square | Not confirmed | RPX / 70mm | 850 Broadway |
| AMC 34th Street 14 (Dolby) | Not confirmed | Dolby Cinema | 312 W 34th St |
Practical tips
Verify before you commit. Because chains don’t publish official screen dimensions, treat any specific width you see — including several in this piece — as an estimate unless it’s cited to IMAX.com or an official theater spec sheet.
“True IMAX” vs. digital IMAX matters. If screen size is the whole point of your trip, Lincoln Square is the only Manhattan house with a genuinely oversized, film-capable IMAX screen. Every other IMAX-branded auditorium in the borough is a digital installation closer in scale to a large standard screen.
Where to catch 70mm: Lincoln Square (IMAX 70mm, select titles) and Regal Union Square’s dedicated 70mm house are your best bets; check listings before assuming a film is running in film rather than digital.
Picking a seat for a giant screen: aim for the middle-to-back third of the auditorium. Front rows under a screen this size can mean constant neck movement and a distorted sense of scale.
Book ahead for weekends. Lincoln Square’s IMAX regularly sells out opening weekends for major releases; the smaller premium houses (RPX, Dolby Cinema) fill up too, just slightly less predictably.
