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The latest movie theater news and updates
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January 13, 2009
Matching funds raised for Franklin theater
FRANKLIN, TN — After closing two years ago, funds have been collected to save the Franklin Cinema.
The Heritage Foundation of Franklin and Williamson County has matched a $1.5 million challenge grant from the Martin Foundation for the restoration of the Franklin Theatre, the organization announced Tuesday.
The former movie theater on Main Street closed in 2007. The project aims to restore the 1937 theater as a public performance, movie and meeting venue.
Read the full story in the Tennessean.
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January 12, 2009
Future plan for Carlisle being established
CARLISLE, PA — Local residents want to find out how to make needed changes to the already successful reuse of the Carlisle Theatre so that the theater will continue to have success in the future.
Carlisle Theatre is rightly described as “the crown jewel” of the borough’s downtown.
In a Sentinel story Wednesday, the phrase was used by Tim Scott, a theatre board member and borough councilman, in explaining why a joint feasibility study is being launched to help guide the future of the nearly 70-year-old venue.
Read more in the Sentinel.
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Houston photographer gathers theater photos book
HOUSTON, TX — With photos dating back a generation, Story Sloane is compiling the best for a book.
Like his father before him, Sloane is a photographer who is using images to help keep Houston’s history alive.
“We tear down the buildings, but how bad would that be if we didn’t photograph the building we tore down,” said Sloane.
Read more at KHOU.
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South Fayette stalls decision on movie theater purchase
SOUTH FAYETTE, PA — A local theater could have a future as a civic center.
South Fayette commissioners are weighing whether to buy a vacant movie theater for use as multipurpose civic center, or to seek a location in the planned mixed-use Newbury development nearby.
The five-member board decided Tuesday to delay a decision on purchasing Star City Screen Works at the interchange of Interstate 79 and Route 50. Township manager Michael Hoy said the property’s owner had set a Jan. 13 deadline to accept a proposed $5 million purchase price for the building and surrounding 12 acres.
Read more in iStock Analyst.
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January 9, 2009
A look back at the year 1979: the year of science fiction
It was thirty years ago. It was the year 1979, and it may be quite safe to say that science fiction movies were dominating the motion picture screen more than they ever have since. This enormous outbreak of sci-fi sensation was, no doubt, due to a little gem two years earlier by George Lucas called “Star Wars”. At the time, it was the highest-grossing blockbuster movie in the United States since “Jaws”, and literally every motion picture studio wanted to get on the sci-fi bandwagon and rake in the sci-fi cash! And so, join me now on a chronological jourey together, as we look back at the year 1979; the year of sci-fi screen magic!
“Buck Rogers in the 25th Century” (March 30, 1979) – Yes, you make have forgotten this, but before the hit series premiered on television in September 1979, it had a short, but profitable theatrical run. It was this film that served as the television pilot for the series which ran for two seasons.
“Mad Max” (April 12, 1979) – By today’s film standards this low-budget apocalyptic thriller of dystopian Australia, starring a very young Mel Gibson might fall under the independent film category. It only received mixed reactions from critics, but still managed to spawn two successful sequels.
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Carthay Circle statue coming home
LOS ANGELES, CA — After being stolen and then rescued, the statue across the street from the site of the former Carthay Circle Theatre is finally coming back.
The 6-foot bronze miner statue stolen last February from the Carthay Circle area and later recovered from a Los Angeles scrapyard is back on familiar ground, where it will be fully installed in the next two weeks, city officials said today.
For decades, the gold miner stood in plain view at the busy intersection of San Vicente Boulevard and McCarthy Vista. But sky-high prices for such metals as bronze, brass and copper made the statue too tempting a target to thieves.
Read more in the Los Angeles Times.
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Horse became the show when it walked into an English cinema
A runaway horse startled moviegoers when it found its way into an English cinema.
A runaway horse unwittingly became a star movie attraction – after bursting into a cinema.
The animal left film-goers in shock after galloping through the automatic front doors, trotting around the foyer and cantering down a corridor.
It then turned round and fled through the exit as bewildered couples, friends and families hurried to clear a path.
Read the full story in the Daily Mail.
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Cinema Cafe
I discovered this while doing a search on local restaurants. I have not been to this location personally, Cinema Cafe in Litchfield, CT. The address is: 8 Village Green Dr. in Litchfield. Telephone is: 860-567-9438. Fax is: 860-567-3912. The site said: “Showing Old Movies All Day!”. Some of their menu is named after blockbusters of the past such as “Gone with the Wind”, “Ten Commandments”, and “Terminator”.
Hours are Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to the site. Sounds a bit to me like the way Ground Round restaurants were in the 70’s around here.
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Another record year for the movies
Not quite as many tickets were sold in ‘08 but a strong finish helped the final tally be the highest ever.
It was a photo finish, but North American movie-ticket sales hit the wire in a furious gallop to post an annual gain of almost 2%, with a record haul of $9.78 billion in estimated grosses.
Avid holiday moviegoing helped the industry rewrite the history books in the home stretch, though substantial ticket-price boosts helped pad the tally. Industry estimates put average U.S. ticket prices at about $7.20, or almost 4.7% higher than in 2007.
Read the full story at Yahoo Movies.
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January 8, 2009
Chehalis Theatre closes
CHEHALIS, WA — The single screen Chehalis Theatre has closed due to competition from a new 10 plex all-digital projection theater recently opened in the area. The Chehalis Theatre has digital sound (pumping out a massive 3600 watts), a small stage with a big screen, modern snack bar, and a fully functioning well-lit marquee. Theater has been restored and is in very good condition.
Daryl Lund knew that when the new multiplex theater came to town that things might get a little grim for his two theaters, Chehalis Cinema and the Regal Cinema 3 at the Yard Birds Mall.
Two months after the opening of Midway Cinemas at the Lewis County Mall, the Chehalis Cinema closed its doors for the last time on Dec. 15 due to its inability to compete with the new theater.
“I didn’t have any movies to show, because the new theater took them all,” Lund said. “I could show movies all day, but I’d lose money because nobody would go. It’s just hard when you can’t get the movies the bigger guys tend to get.”
Here’s the full story from The Chronicle.