Downtown Chicago moviegoers may soon get their IMAX screen back. City building permit records indicate that one auditorium at AMC River East 21 in Streeterville is being converted to include IMAX capability, marking a potential return of large-format film to the heart of the Magnificent Mile area.
The permit filing was first reported by NBC Chicago, whose staff reached out to AMC for more details but had not received a response as of publication. The exact timeline for the conversion remains unclear, and whether the new auditorium will include 70-millimeter film capability alongside digital projection was not immediately known, according to the same report.
Filling a Downtown Gap
The move would address a void that has lingered in downtown Chicago since the Navy Pier IMAX shut its doors permanently. That venue, which featured a 60-foot-high by 86-foot-wide screen, was taken over by AMC in 2016, according to Time Out. The space it once occupied was permanently replaced in March 2024 by FlyOver Chicago, a $40 million virtual flight simulation attraction with a 65-foot spherical screen, as Hoodline previously reported.
AMC River East 21 itself is no small venue to house a new IMAX screen. Opened in November 2002 at 322 E. Illinois St., the Streeterville multiplex features 21 screens and 1,661 seats, according to Cinema Treasures.
Part of a Bigger National Push
The River East conversion, if completed, would fit within a much larger pattern for AMC. In April 2025, IMAX Corporation and AMC Entertainment signed an expansive national agreement to deploy IMAX with Laser technology across more than 180 U.S. locations, adding 12 new IMAX auditoriums and upgrading 68 existing screens, per Forbes. That 2025 deal was reportedly the largest U.S. system agreement IMAX had signed since 2018. The outlet says laser projection is brighter and more stable than xenon projection, while traditional xenon bulbs dim with age.
AMC's investment in premium large-format screens has continued nationally. The company also reported that its per-screen IMAX grosses were 32% higher than competing chains in 2025.
Chicago's Current IMAX Landscape
Right now, Chicago has two currently operating IMAX theaters, per city building permit records cited by NBC Chicago. One is AMC Roosevelt Collection 16 in the South Loop, which reopened under AMC management in April 2025 after ShowPlace ICON vacated the space in summer 2024, according to Axios. The other is Regal City North Stadium 14 IMAX & RPX, situated on the Bucktown-Logan Square border on the city's northwest side.
Neither of those locations sits downtown, which is why a River East conversion would matter to visitors clustered around Michigan Avenue and Navy Pier. Other downtown theaters include AMC Dine-In Block 37 on State Street and AMC Dine-In 600 North Michigan 9.
For film purists, Forbes distinguishes 70-millimeter IMAX film from most digital IMAX screens. Whether AMC's River East upgrade will include 70mm equipment alongside digital laser projection is one of the details that has not yet been confirmed.
