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The latest movie theater news and updates
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April 27, 2017
Scranton, PA - Movie Theater with a Twist Opening in Scranton
From WNEP.com: A long-awaited movie theater is set to open this week in downtown Scranton.
The Iron Horse Movie Bistro is a blend of both restaurant and theater.
A company from Tennessee bought the old Marquee Cinemas about a year and a half ago. Some construction snags delayed its opening by almost a year.
The place will finally open Friday and offers a different kind of movie-going experience.
The decor inside the Iron Horse Movie Bistro is a nod to Scranton’s past but not to the past movie theaters that have been at the corner of Lackawanna and Penn Avenues.
Aspiring chef Nicole Santiago was surprised to learn that she could work as a cook. The place serves a lot more than popcorn. The movie bistro is a combination of a restaurant, bar, and movie theater.
One theater will offer at-your-seat service.
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Dobbs Ferry, NY - Luxury movie theater to open in Dobbs Ferry
From LoHud.com: Those looking to elevate the traditional dinner and a movie date night will soon have a new option.
An eight-screen, 580-seat iPic Theater that combines a luxurious film-watching experience with high-end food and drinks is set to open May 5 in the still-under-construction $150 million Rivertowns Square development.
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April 20, 2017
Baltimore, MD - A look at the grand restoration of the historic Parkway Theatre
From the Baltimore Business Journal: The Maryland Film Festival is preparing to move into the Parkway Theatre at Charles Street and North Avenue this week as famous Baltimore filmmakers Barry Levinson, John Waters and David Simon will be on hand Thursday for a gala there.
The $18.2 million renovations began last year at the site that had been vacant for 40 years, said Jed Dietz, director of the Maryland Film Festival. The nonprofit purchased the theater and the old “Chicken Box,” building located next to it from the city for $1 in 2012 after the Baltimore Development Corp. sought the redevelopment of the corner into a cultural center to add to the growing cultural space in the community.
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Palm Beach, FL - Palm Beach board: Historic Paramount Theatre sign needs to be replaced
From the Palm Beach Daily News: The iconic “Paramount” sign crowning the façade of the historic Paramount Theatre Building has deteriorated beyond repair and is in line to be replaced with an exact duplicate. But first the Town Council must approve a variance for the replacement, which, at 156 square feet, will be far larger than the 20 square feet allowed under today’s code.
The sign is original and has adorned the building since 1926, architect Gene Pandula told the Landmarks Preservation Commission on Wednesday.
“The sign is obviously an extremely important historic element of the building,” Pandula said. It “has been one of the constants of this building, even as other changes were made over the years.”
The sign is made up of individual letters, each 30 inches tall, which are no longer lit because the wiring is in bad condition, he said.
“It does need to be replaced,” Pandula said. “It’s been turned off for a while now. It’s not in an appropriate condition to plug in.”
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April 19, 2017
Playtime During the Previews? Playgrounds Are the Latest Movie Theater Accessories
From The New York Times: To sell more tickets, some movie theaters have introduced seats that tilt, spin and rumble to match the action on the screen, devices that spray water and pump scents and salted pretzels the size of steering wheels.
Recently added to that list: playground equipment in auditoriums to cater to 3- to 12-year-olds.
Cinépolis, which has more than 4,900 auditoriums worldwide, last month introduced Cinépolis Junior at theaters in Los Angeles and San Diego.
They are equipped with a 55-foot-long and 25-foot-high play structure with two slides and two platforms with “wobble hoppers” (similar to stationary pogo sticks) and “stand n’ spins” (smaller versions of merry-go-rounds). A separate area enclosed with a colorful fence has green lawn turf and plastic animal sculptures for climbing and crawling.
Cinépolis USA, a Dallas-based subsidiary with theaters in California, Connecticut, Florida, New Jersey and New York, plans to open more junior auditoriums in the United States.
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April 13, 2017
New York, NY - Quad Cinema in Greenwich Village reopening in glitzy new form
From AM New York: An art house icon returns to business in a spiffy new form when the Quad Cinema reopens Friday at its West 13th Street location. After a massive two-year renovation, the return of the Greenwich Village institution, which first opened in 1972, marks the latest highlight in what has become a golden moment for New York City cinephiles. The past several years have seen an explosion in specialty cinemas across the city, from the Nitehawk in Williamsburg to the Syndicated in Bushwick to the Metrograph on the Lower East Side and more.
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Ardmore, PA - Tropicraft opens up in the former Ardmore movie theater
From the Main Line Times: After having been empty for the nearly three years following the abrupt closing of the Philadelphia Sports Club in the summer of 2014, a new business has opened up inside the former Ardmore Movie Theater.
Husband and wife team Bruce and Zofia Halpern own Tropicraft, a store that specializes in outdoor patio furniture.
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Belleville, IL - Last of St. Louis region’s drive-in theaters still ‘kind of busy’
From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The gravel lot is an unremarkable expanse dotted with hundreds of short poles whose purpose might mystify many people. Even the two huge white rectangles rising on steel struts toward the sky may be something outside their experience.
Here, atop 17 acres on the west side of Belleville, sits a rare drive-in picture show, open for a 68th season as a theatrical dinosaur in the movies-on-your-phone era. But a healthy dinosaur, owner Steve Bloomer insists.
Lots of East Siders will remember the family name from the Bloomer Amusement Company, whose chain of theaters flourished through the 20th century. Its first opened in Freeburg 100 years ago. The lone survivor — outliving the company itself — is the Skyview Drive-In, at 5700 North Belt West.
It also outlived all the St. Louis region’s other drive-ins.
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Sag Harbor, NY - Nonprofit takes charge of Sag Harbor theater ravaged by fire
From the New York Post: A Hamptons nonprofit group led by artist April Gornik — the wife of painter Eric Fischl — is taking over the Sag Harbor Cinema, which was damaged by a December fire.
The Sag Harbor Partnership’s buying the theater from owner Gerald Mallow, who’s owned the theater of 38 years. Gornick’s group aims to raise funds from private donors through SagHarborPartnership.org for the renovation, and to launch the Sag Harbor Cinema Arts Center with year-round “education, outreach and programming.”
New plans include a café and the theater’s art deco facade will be rebuilt, complete with the original, salvaged sign.
A July 16 fête will honor Mallow and benefit the cinema.
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Birmingham, MI - Historic Birmingham 8 movie theater being modernized
From the Oakland Press: When patrons attended vaudeville shows at what is now the Birmingham 8 movie theater in the 1920s, it’s unlikely they imagined that in the future, audiences would put their feet up and relax while they watched a movie.
The historic theater in downtown Birmingham is joining the chain movie houses by adding reclining seats, which are being installed in phases. The theater’s owners hope to secure a liquor license from the state by the summer, also following the lead of many of the area corporate theaters that serve beer and cocktails, such as MJR and Emagine.