The Carlton Theatre was a London West End cinema owned by Paramount Pictures and operated by them until 1954 when it was leased to Twentieth Century Fox as their West End showcase for CinemaScope films. Fox continued to operate the Carlton until 1977 when they withdrew from cinema operations in London (they had also run the Rialto, Coventry Street). The cinema was taken over by Classic and the former stage area was sold for demolition and redevelopment. The auditorium was tripled and reopened on 11 January 1979 as the Classic Haymarket. Various changes in ownership resulted in name changes to Cannon, MGM, Virgin and UGC. The cinema is now called Cineworld, Haymarket / The Cinema On The Haymarket. The architects for the original theatre were Frank Verity and Sam Beverley.