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Plaza Twin to close
posted by
Michael Zoldessy
on
August 26, 2008 at 9:45 am
DUNN, NC — The town’s only theater, the Carmike Plaza Twin, will close this week with no plans yet on what will happen to it.
Just last year, the two-screen theater was given a full makeover, including new seats in both auditoriums and the latest Christie digital projectors.
“I think we’re the only theater that actually has (the new projectors),” Mr. St. Onge said. “They’ve been fixing up everything, so I’m surprised they’re closing.”
Read the full story in the Dunn Daily Record.
Comments (7)
I thought “digital cinema” was supposed to be the salvation of all theater’s problems? It was supposed to magically bring in thousands of customers. :rolleyes:
There is a rumor out there that Christie is going bankrupt over the deal with Carmike….
Actually, digital cinemas are suppose to save the studios money. Since each 35mm print cost something like $2,000-$3,000, a 4,000-screen rollout, like The Dark Knight, costs an extra $12 million. On the other hand, a hard drive costs $100, and you can reuse it over and over. On the other hand, a digital projector can cost $50,000-$150,000, which is a pretty big cost for a theater.
Apparently, this theater hasn’t had a sell-out since 2004, and the two auditoriums only seat 300. So the theater has been losing money for years.
The Last Temptation Of Christ was there last sell out!
No, no. The Passion of the Christ was the last sell out. Last Temptation was in 1988. That would have been a long time since the theater had a sell out show! It would have closed years earlier if that was the case.
If you think “Passion of the Christ” was the only movie that was a sell-out,you may want to look back further into this cinema’s history. Since its opening in 1975,a lot of blockbuster movies that played here did very well,and were sell-outs in there own right. The original STAR WARS movie played here first-run as well as RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK as well. What else played at the Plaza? A lot of scary movies not to mention the run of Disney flicks too. But back in 1975,before the Plaza opened,the only theatres that were in town was the Stewart Theatre(now the Harnett Community Theater),and at one time to the town’s only drive-in theatre(which is not listed on the Cinema Treasures site) But when THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST played here,all boxoffice records at this cinema were broken in 2004..opening day when it sold-out all performances and even all matinee showings are packed to capacity(due to the audience of church groups and all the above,since this was at the time the only movie theatre in town). Since its closing in 2008,the only way to see a movie is to drive to the nearest towns for a movie screening..either going down I-95 towards Fayetteville or heading down South on U.S. 421 towards Clinton or even as far as Wilmington to catch a blockbuster movie.
Not to mention the original JAWS played here in 1975. A lot of blockbuster movies played here at the Plaza Twin. I was there in 1986 when Steven Spielburg’s THE COLOR PURPLE broken all attendance records. The lines snaked from one end of the shopping center to the other. But the lines really went beyond the limits in 2004 when Mel Gibson’s THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST had people waiting in long,long lines and traffic back-up from one end of the shopping center to the other . Everyone in that town and all of Harnett County saw this movie,including neighboring counties too packed this theatre.