Company Town

Theaters: Warner Bros., the studio subsidiary of media and entertainment giant Time Warner Inc., said Monday that it will invest $118 million in building multiplex cinemas in the London area and is moving aggressively to develop multiplexes elsewhere in Europe and Asia. Warner plans to build 20 cinemas in the next two years in Britain. It is also actively developing multiple-screen theaters in Germany, Spain, Portugal and Japan and possibly in South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam, said Millard Ochs, president of Warner Bros. International Theatres. The announcement marks the third time in two months that companies have disclosed plans to make major investments in British cinemas. AMC Entertainment, the largest U.S. multiplex cinema operator, disclosed in June that it planned to re-enter the British market with 24-screen multiplexes. Richard Branson, whose Virgin Group won the bidding for the MGM cinema chain in Britain, said he will expand the chain.