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The latest movie theater news and updates
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January 19, 2011
Frank Theatres acquires Tilton 9
NORTHFIELD, NJ — Expaning its assests in New Jersey, Frank Theatres has made the Tilton 9 its 25th theater. They began operating it two weeks ago.
Read more in their press release.
They are also embarking on a renovation plan this spring to bring this theatre to the highest industry standards in terms of presentation and dining amenities. You can read more about that here.
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Once-grand Qns. theater to be apt. building
FLUSHING, NY — There are updated plans for the apartment complex that will go up at the RKO Keith’s.
Boymelgreen had intended the building to have 200 massive luxury condo units, “but in the current market that just didn’t make sense,” said Thompson, who bought the dilapidated wreck for $20 million.
“We increased the number of units and they will be market-rate rentals, which better fit in with what makes sense for Flushing.”
Read the full story in the New York Post.
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January 18, 2011
Decatur theater dumps 3D
DECATUR, IL — The management of the Avon Theater has decided that 3D just is not a good fit for this theater. The high costs coupled with the preferences of the theater’s core audience were preventing the Avon’s investment in a Technicolor 3D system from paying off. The theater, unlike most others, did not charge a premium for 3D presentations.
“I sold the cameras back and told them ‘this is more trouble than it’s worth,’” the longtime theater opera-tor said. “I do regret that we ever did it. The Avon is really not the kind of place for 3D movies. The clientele is not the kind of audience for the movies that are usually released in 3D.”
Huston credited the theater’s “art-house roots” and “upscale commercial crowd” with making it a less than ideal venue to screen bombastic 3D blockbusters like “Clash of the Titans” or “Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore,” two films the theater took significant losses on due to underwhelming crowd response.
The full story appeared in the Herald-Review.
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Efforts launched to acquire, renovate Polk Theatre in Columbia
COLUMBIA, TN — The Maury County Arts Guild has initiated efforts that would enable them to acquire the long-closed Polk Theatre. Once acquired, the group plans to embark on a drive to raise the estimated $2 million it will take to turn the theater into a mixed-use venue. The theater opened in 1948, was later twinned, and then used for retail.
The Polk Theatre and Cultural Arts Center would include a theater with a seating capacity of up to 500, but the building will be much more than that, Manning said.
“This place is not just going to be a theater; it’s going to be an art gallery where we’re going to have classrooms, it’s going to be a banquet room where we could hold lectures and parties,” Manning said. “It’s just going to be pretty darn incredible.”
There is more in the Daily Herald.
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Carmike to build theatre in West Pottsgrove
WEST POTTSGROVE, PA — Construction is expected here to begin in March on a 45,000 square foot multiplex to be operated by Carmike.
The announcement appeared in the Philadelphia Business Journal.
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January 17, 2011
Plans afoot to renovate, reopen Times Square Theater as a special purpose venue
NEW YORK, NY — Reportedly, plans have been drawn up that would convert the long-closed Times Square Theater into a venue to house a multimedia attraction tentatively called “Broadway 4D,” described in news reports as a Las Vegas-style review of Broadway’s history up to the present. Originally built as a legitimate theater, the Times Square later operated as a cinema for many years, but has been closed for nearly twenty.
Financial backing, sources said, is from Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Kr Capital Partners. Although the signing of a long-term lease was described as “imminent” by one source, it might be premature to line up to buy tickets. “There are contingencies,” a real estate source told us. “This thing is very, very complicated.”
All parties involved either declined to comment or failed to return calls. They would rather wait to present the gift-wrapped deal with names of presumably A-list show business types on the creative team, so it doesn’t sound ridiculous — i.e., an out-of-town version of actual Broadway shows in a district full of real ones.
There is more in the New York Post.
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PDX, like the IMAX Experience is coming to Southpoint Mall Cinemas
DURHAM, NC — For those people who live in the greater Durham and Chapel Hill area who like the immersive IMAX experience for movies won’t have to commute to Raleigh or Cary anymore come late spring.
A new movie theater by Southpoint Cinemas using technology similar to the IMAX is almost under completion at the Streets at Southpoint Cinemas. Completion could be as early as March or even as of May.
Called PDX, for Premium Digital Experience, the new theater will have two digital projectors that will deliver digital 2D and 3D films on a wall-to-wall screen, complete with a 7.1 surround sound system and high back rocker seating.
The new theater is planned to have about 385 seats, compared to the IMAX’s 270, but won’t show scientific and educational films made for the IMAX. It will be able to show movies like “Inception,” “Harry Potter” and other blockbusters.
See the full details of this story in the Herald Sun.
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East Nashville’s Roxy to become mixed-use venue
NASHVILLE, TN — Originally opened in 1938, the Roxy closed as a movie theater in 1960. After lying dormant for several years, it later became a recording studio. Plans now will convert it to a mixed-use music venue with some movie showings; some space will again be used as a recording studio.
The 1998 tornadoes destroyed the small studio. Solomon plans to reopen Woodland Studios as part of the Roxy Theater. The recording studio will take about 3,400 square feet of the venue’s space.
Stephanie Silverman, managing director at Belcourt Theatre, said she supports Solomon’s decision to expand the venue beyond a film house.
There is more at Tennessean.com.
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January 14, 2011
Museum of the Moving Image reopens
This Saturday, January 15th, at 1pm “2001: A Space Odyssey” and at 4pm “Playtime” will be presented in 70MM at the newly expanded Museum of the Moving Image. Ticket prices are $15.00 to the public and free for museum members.
Museum of the Moving Image
35 Avenue at 37th Street
Astoria, NY 11106 -
Historic theatre operation in Milwaukee panel discussion
MILWAUKEE, WI — There’s an exciting panel discussion in a couple weeks hosted by Historic Milwaukee about what locals can do to save Milwaukee’s classic theaters.
Prior to World War II, there were 90 single-screen movie theaters in Milwaukee. By 1960, that number had been reduced by half. With the arrival of television for the home market, the golden age of the movie theater in Milwaukee was dead. Yet their ghosts continue to haunt the old neighborhoods. Churches, warehouses, stores, nightspots, and other businesses now occupy the former Tivoli, Paris, Roosevelt, and Savoy Buildings. Others are simply vacant hulks, decaying from the inside out. The Elite, Regent, Lincoln, and Warner are but a few of the many silent sentinels from the days when Milwaukee was in love with the movies.
But the Show Must Go On!
Please join us on January 26th at the Times Cinema (blt.1935) where we will ask our panel of seasoned theatre managers, owners and revivers, what is the future of moviegoing in America? What exactly does it take to continue to revitalize and readapt these theatres in Milwaukee? What types of unique programming are necessary to sustain a historic theatre business such as this? And finally, what exactly is the future of Bay View’s beloved Avalon Theatre anyway?
Read more at Historic Milwaukee.