Have a news tip for us?
Just email . Ideas for stories, links to interesting articles, and press releases are welcome.
The latest movie theater news and updates
-
November 12, 2010
Rave to operate former Magic Johnson Theater in Baldwin Hills after renovations
BALDWIN HILLS, CA — When $10 million in renovations are completed, Dallas-based Rave Motion Pictures will be the operator of the former Magic Johnson Crenshaw 15 which was closed by AMC in June. The renovated theatre is expected to open in time for next summer’s crop of films.
“Anytime we stand in front of the theater we have a number of community folks that drive by asking questions as to when it’s going to open,” Lombard said. “The community is extremely vested in this theater. This is their theater. So we fully anticipate the same if not higher levels of support then what we saw in the beginning.”
There is more at SCPR.
9 comments -
Fox Theatre in Taft faces foreclosure auction
TAFT, CA — Though regarded by many as vital to the ongoing redevelopment of the downtown area, the Fox Theatre is in danger of closing unless foreclosure proceedings can be forestalled. The theater opened in the 1920’s and has been extensively renovated and has been functioning as a triplex.
“[Foreclosure] would leave a gutted building downtown, which would be a worst-case scenario because this building virtually takes up most of the main street of Taft.”
There is more from KERO.
-
Three LA Philharmonic concerts to be presented live in HD at 450 theaters
LOS ANGELES, CA – The range of entertainment presented in the form of high definition, live broadcasts to movie theaters continues to grow. Denver-based Fathom Events and the Los Angeles Philharmonic have announced that three concerts will be broadcast live to at least 450 theaters beginning in January. These offerings are in addition to the popular Metropolitan Opera HD presentations, as well as several rock concerts, and special classic movie presentations.
Gustavo Dudamel, the Phil’s music director, will conduct all three transmitted concerts from Walt Disney Concert Hall. The first will be a Jan. 9 program that will include John Adams' “Slonimsky’s Earbox,” Bernstein’s Symphony No. 1 (“Jeremiah”) and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7.
An all-Tchaikovsky program on March 13 will comprise music from “Romeo and Juliet,” “Hamlet” and “The Tempest.” The final program, June 5, will be Brahms' Symphony No. 4 and Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra In A Minor, Op. 102, featuring as soloists the Capuçon brothers, violinist Renaud and cellist Gautier.
There is more in the LA Times.
-
November 11, 2010
All About The Music Box & Hawaii Theaters
The [http://www.lahtf.org] Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation[/url]
in association with Hollywood Heritage presents
ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC BOX & HAWAII THEATRES
a free comprehensive insider’s tour of a successful adaptively re-used Classic and a peek inside the Hawaii/Salvation ArmySaturday, November 13, 10:30 am; doors open at 10:00am
Music Box, 6126 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, CA 90028-5310-
Music Box Website
The Public is Invited. Admission: $7 — free for LAHTF and HHMembers
Tour phone —– 213 999-5067 -
Temple Theatre given to the newly formed Temple Foundation
SAGINAW, MI — The beautifully restored Temple Theatre has been donated by the Shaheen family, which owned the theater since 2002 and restored it, to the newly formed Temple Foundation. The foundation has already secured about $3.5 million and hopes to raise another $1.5 million from the general public. The Temple Theatre is a thriving venue for both concerts and films.
“To literally give the facility valued at over $9 million, they put over $7 million of the family’s own money into it and gifted the foundation another $700,000 on top of that. It’s just off the charts,” Garber said.
“It’s just an incredible and it’s an awesome responsibility for the Great Lakes Bay Region to accept and make sure we continue to operate the theatre and provide the quality venue that the Shaheen family has done for the last 10 years.”
Additional details with video from WJRT.
-
Movie Theater coming to Front Street in Hartford
HARTFORD, CT — A new movie theater is coming to Hartford as part of the “Riverfront Recapture effort. It’s not official, but looks to be a movie theater with food. This is great news for the people of Hartford, giving us a reason to come downtown and a "hopefully” better movie experience than what we currently endure.
More at theCourant Blog Link.
-
November 10, 2010
Work to renovate Westbury Theater begins
WESTBURY, NY — A long-delayed renovation project has begun to turn the closed Westbury Theater into a multi-use venue, including movie showings. The theater opened in 1927 and is designed in a Tudor-revival style.
“This is really the culmination of our downtown revitalization process,” said Village of Westbury Mayor Peter Cavallaro, as his voice rose above Post Avenue traffic and the sounds of construction work on the theater roof.
“This project is the keystone of what we have in mind for Post Avenue. We look at it as a magnet for new businesses, new consumers and new residents,” Cavallaro said. He also recognized the assistance of the county in providing essential community development funds before welcoming Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano.
There is more in the Westbury Times.
-
New technology enables the movie screen to watch you
HORSHAM, WEST SUSSEX, ENGLAND — A technology company here has received a grant to further develop an infra-red system behind movie screens to record audience facial expressions and other behavior in 3-D in reaction to films and ads. Supposedly being developed in the name of market research, concerns are already being raised about privacy concerns and the impact it could have on what films get made and distributed.
We’re not talking about a dumb clapometer-style system, either. The intention is to produce rich data that can measure the details of an individual’s face. Aralia will leverage 3-D face recognition technology that the university is already developing. When you sit in the audience of a theater with their system, you’ll be illuminated with an infra-red beam, and three or more cameras will continually monitor the crowd to create stereoscopic images—just like the 3-D digital cameras that are now launching on the consumer markets.
The full story is at Fast Company.
-
Plans made to reopen Royal T III Theatre in Le Mars
LE MARS, IA — Eric Hilsabeck, who owns the Riviera Theatre in Sioux City, has submitted plans to renovate and reopen the Royal T III Theater which closed in 2009. The theater originally opened at least eighty years ago as the Royal, and was later twinned, then triplexed.
According to a letter to the Le Mars City Council from Neal Adler, director of the LBIC, designs to renovate the theater are complete, cost estimates have been gathered, and a purchase agreement is in place.
The total cost to restore the historic downtown building and update the theater will be more than $700,000, Adler stated.
There is more in the Le Mars Sentinel.
-
November 9, 2010
Historic Des Plaines Theater gets a new lease on life
DES PLAINES, IL — Work is being done to renovate the Des Plaines Theater in time for its 85 Anniversary December 19th.
Theater owner Dhitu Bhagwakar and local nonprofit Stage One Productions have teamed up to revive the landmark and turn it into more than just a large-screen movie house.
Bhagwakar, who purchased the large single-screen theater in 2003, tried to make it work as a destination for Bollywood films and had some success for a while.
With only occasional showings in the past year, the theater has been dark in recent months. Renovations began in earnest last week as workers started gutting the interior, which will be completely refurbished.
Read more in the Daily Herald.