Ster Century was a cinema

Movie theater

A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....

 company in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 and the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. There was one Ster Century cinema in Dublin, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, and six in the UK: Basingstoke

Basingstoke

Basingstoke is a town in northeast Hampshire, in south central England. It lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon. It is southwest of London, northeast of Southampton, southwest of Reading and northeast of the county town, Winchester. In 2008 it had an estimated population of...

, Cardiff

Cardiff

Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...

, Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

, Norwich

Norwich

Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...

, and Romford

Romford

Romford is a large suburban town in north east London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan...

. The Dublin Liffey Valley Shopping Centre

Liffey Valley Shopping Centre

Liffey Valley Shopping Centre is a shopping centre, that is located in Clondalkin in Dublin 22. The centre opened in 1998 and is located at the junction of the M50 motorway and N4 road...

 cinema - the first Ster Century to open - was one of the largest in Ireland or the UK, in terms of footfall.

History

Established in 1996, the company was a spin-off from the South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

n cinema chain, Ster-Kinekor

Ster-Kinekor

Ster Kinekor is a South Africa-based cinema company. Its head office is in the Ster-Kinekor Office Park in Sandton, City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality.-History:...

. Ster Century's first cinema was opened in 1998 in partnership with Assos Odeon, a cinema company based in Greece, under the name Ster Odeon.

In 1999 Ster Century opened its first cinemas under its own brand. By the end of the year it had operations in Dublin, Ireland; Prague and Brno, Czech Republic; Wroclaw and Warsaw, Poland; and Budapest, Hungary.

Development continued in 2000 with further cinemas opened in the UK, Spain, Greece, Slovakia and additional sites in Poland and the Czech Republic.

By mid-2002 Ster Century had sold off its interests in Poland, Greece, Hungary and the Czech Republic to concentrate on its operations in Ireland and the UK.

In 2003 Ster Century's assets in Ireland and the UK were sold to Aurora Entertainment in a Management buy-out, with remaining assets in Spain and Slovakia being sold off to local cinema operators. In 2005, it was sold again to Vue

Vue (cinema)

Vue Entertainment , formerly known as SBC International Cinemas, is a cinema company in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. The company was formed in May 2003 when SBC acquired 36 Warner Village cinemas. There are now 69 Vue cinemas, with 654 screens totaling 140,500 seats, including the rebranded...

, and the cinemas have been completely re-branded to Vue's identity since then.

All Ster Century Cinemas that have been re-branded still have some smaller elements (seat covers, "no phone use" signs, cinema lighting, carpet, etc.) that read "Ster Century" or bear the Ster Century logo.