The Empire Leicester Square in London has become Europe's first auditorium to utilize the new Dolby 3D Digital Cinema large-screen solution. The Empire installed the Dolby 3D system in time for the United Kingdom premiere of Walt Disney Pictures' Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience. The movie will premiere in front of an invited audience of more than 1,300 guests.

The new Dolby 3D large-screen solution combined with Barco's digital-cinema twin projector allows exhibitors to project Dolby 3D onto standard, non-silver screens ranging from 12.5 to 21 meters, surpassing the previous size limit of 12 meters. The Empire Leicester Square, one of the U.K.'s oldest and largest cinemas, regularly hosts movie premieres. With its 20-meter screen, the Empire boasts one of the largest screens in the country.

"We are delighted to be working with Dolby in what is a European first. We share the commitment to bring the finest image quality to the screen in ways that continue to add value to the cinema experience. When it came to hosting the Jonas Brothers 3D premiere, the new Dolby 3D large-screen solution seemed the ideal choice," said Justin Ribbons, CEO, Empire Cinemas Limited. "With the Dolby 3D large-screen solution, we can now show 3D to audiences in our largest auditorium at Leicester Square—Empire One—and provide a stunning experience for everyone in the audience."

Empire Cinemas operates 144 screens at 16 locations across the U.K. Its flagship, the Empire Leicester Square, first opened its doors as a theatre in 1884, and from the earliest days of the moving image, it played host to the technological advances of cinema. In March 1896, Louis and Auguste Lumière gave the first theatrical performances of a projected film to a paying U.K. audience at the Empire.