Imagine Cinemas is the one that pays attention. Founded in 2013 and based in Toronto, Imagine operates 19 cinemas in Ontario. It's small by national standards but it punches above its weight culturally — their Toronto flagship, the restored Carlton Cinema on Yonge Street, is one of the city's great movie-going rooms.
What makes Imagine different is the programming. Their theatres run what's new (Dune, Oppenheimer, Barbie — all the big ones) alongside a steady drip of arthouse, international, and repertory programming you wouldn't necessarily find at a Cineplex multiplex. If Anatomy of a Fall is playing in your city, there's a good chance Imagine has it.
Imagine Cinemas Locations
- Toronto / GTA — Carlton Cinema (Yonge & Carlton), Market Square (Front Street), Promenade Thornhill, Woodside Lansdowne, Cambridge Cinemas, Cineplex Cinemas Commerce Gate (Vaughan).
- Ottawa — Imagine Cinemas Elmvale, Imagine Cinemas Orleans.
- Hamilton & Niagara — Imagine Cinemas Pen Centre (St. Catharines), Imagine Ancaster.
- Waterloo Region — Princess Cinemas (Waterloo), Galaxy Waterloo.
- Guelph — Imagine Cinemas Guelph.
- Sudbury — Imagine Cinemas Sudbury.
- North — North Bay, Thunder Bay.
- Prairies — Imagine Cinemas Winnipeg.
The Carlton Cinema
Particular attention to the Carlton. The building dates to 1948 and was one of Toronto's original downtown movie palaces. Magic Lantern operated it for decades; Imagine took over in 2015 and restored the auditoriums, updated the projection, kept the bones. Today it runs first-run movies on seven screens, often with lineups that nobody else in the city is carrying. Old seats, good audiences, reasonable prices. It's worth the trip regardless of what's playing.
Imagine Ticket Prices
Imagine's pricing is closer to Landmark than Cineplex — standard evening adults around $12–$13, matinees $9, Tuesday night promotions at $6–$7. No IMAX, no ScreenX. Imagine Cinemas runs a loyalty program called Imagine Perks — modest points accumulation, useful if you go regularly.