AMC Loews Paramus Route 4 Tenplex
260 E. Highway 4,
Paramus,
NJ
07652
260 E. Highway 4,
Paramus,
NJ
07652
24 people
favorited this theater
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An article in today’s Record incorrectly mentions this theater as being on Route 17….it’s in the business section and this theater is an example of how bad the economy is with lots of empty real estate. BTW, has anyone bought interest in the building?
When this theatre closed, it closed as AMC Loews Paramus Route 4 Tenplex. Other names that this theatre was known as includes Cineplex Odeon Route 4 Tenplex, RKO Century’s Route 4 Sevenplex/Tenplex and Stanley Warner’s Route 4 Theatre.
The name “Primus” should be removed from the theater name as it makes no sense. It should be called Route 4 Tenplex.
From what I have seen on Live maps, the old “Route 4 Cinema”, which was to the right of the AMC Loews (RKO Stanley Warner’s) Route 4 Theatre, was demolished and replaced by either Toys R Us or the stores that is built next to the closed tenplex.
The additional screens that’s to the left of the original building, as well as the expanded lobby, looks like were added when RKO Century turned the theatre into the sevenplex.
There is a different roofline to where the last two screens were added over when Screens 6-8 and the expanded lobby area was added by RKO Century.
I would love to see a timeline of this theater … as far as when it changed from one screen to two, from two to a triplex, from a triplex to a sevenplex, and so on …
Too bad they didn’t mentioned who played Darth Vader….the old Route 4 Tenplex was the Yankee Stadium of modern day movie theaters in North Jersey.
*It was the lower theatre that was split into two by 1977. My mistake. *
No, you almost had it right the first time. The downstairs was intact, and the balcony was walled up to make a single, far too wide for it’s depth, theatre. The balcony was several years later cut into 2 theatres, long before the downstairs. If you remember, they built “The Route 4 Cinema” too the right of the original building, with a separate entrance, boxoffice, etc, rather than divide the downstairs of the original theatre. The last week Star Wars played at the RKO Stanely Warner, they moved it over to the smaller route 4 Cinema, and the marquee read Darth Vader in Star Wars.
Correction, It was the lower theatre that was split into two by 1977. My mistake.
AwfulAgent, the upstairs balcony was already divided into two theatres by 1977, when the original “Star Wars” came to rKO stanley Warner’s Route 4 Threeplex. It was already a sevenplex when Return Of The Jedi played at the RKO Century’s Route 4 Sevenplex in 1983.
I wish there was a Web site that had old photos of this theater from back in its glory days, aside from the ones already mentioned on this Web page. If anyone finds anything, please post the link here.
(Unrelated side not: Hey, Christophersepp, if you ever consider ditching that old Crash Line t-shirt, let me know. I’ll buy it from you. I collect old Devs T’s. ()
The Tenplex was the role model for what a multiplex should be in North Jersey. AMC really drove the place right into the ground when it closed the Tenplex and build up an expensive new theater right next to the busy Garden State Plaza mall. This is also the same thing with the new Yankee Stadium and Citi Field, two new stadiums for old teams that don’t look as memorable as the original but are technologically advanced.
I’ve been looking at old New York Times microfilm and I noticed that this theatre had some rather eclectic fare. For example, in 1982 they played the “Best Of Almi Cinema 5 Festival” and showed films such as Z, The Man Who Fell To Earth and other films not normally shown at multiplexes.
They also got the New Jersey exclusives of various art and foreign films. That is variety. Say in 1982, you could see films like Star Trek II or Blade Runner on one screen while on another screen, you could see Diva or The Long Good Friday.
Too bad nowadays, it’s all playing Fast and Furious on six screens or My Bloody Valentine 3-D on three screens for $15 a ticket. They need variety in these big theatres. Isn’t that why they built them? 30 screens, 30 movies?
Most times when a chain closes a theatre and has a new one nearby then can put that in their leases with the property owners. That the location can not be used as a movie theatre even if it had been showing first run and the new people want to show 2nd or 3rd run films.
As you said the agent said the leasing rate was huge. Well they want a retail type company to lease it, which makes more money.
No disrespect intended, but the building does look horrible. With all the hodge podge additions the building underwent it is an ugly structure. Being 50 years old, and neglected, it is probably in a state where it would cost more to renovate it for any type of reuse than it would to tear down and put up some shiny new building. You can be sure that AMC is the reason for the non-compete clause. This is typical in the industry.
Well, I just talked to Vornado. The good news is the property is available for lease. The BAD news is they have something in their contract with the actual property owner that will not allow any type of movie theater to be located on that property. :( I still don’t understand why that would be the case, as AMC never owned the property and would be the only one who wouldn’t want another theater located at that location, since they have the “factory” one at the mall, but that’s just the way it is. The person I spoke to said there was no chance that policy would be changed. She also told me that the entire interior of the theater had been completely cleaned out, not just the projecters and chairs, but EVERYTHING, leaving only the exterior shell and the facade behind. Just thinking about that makes me want to start balling, but I know everyone doesn’t have emotional connections to that theater like I do. She actually mentioned that she thought the theater looked horrible and couldn’t understand why anyone would want to save it in the first place. I guess she never saw it in its glory days or understood that a lifespan of almost 50 years showing movies has an effect on a lot of people who frequented it during that time. It IS available for lease though and it could be used as a theatrical theater, like Bergen PAC or NJPAC, just not anything movie related, so if you know anyone who wants to open a community theater that would stage musicals, plays, etc…. give Vornado a call. The leasing rate she mentioned is pretty huge, so I honestly don’t know who could afford it. She did mention that the health club idea is still a possibility. Oh well, my hopes have been dashed again. :(
If they’re actually putting it available for lease now, then I’m at a loss for words. I had two different independent theater owners interested in leasing the property to show either second run or independent/foreign films right after the theater shut it’s doors for good. When they contacted the property owner, who supposedly also owns the property that the Bergen Mall is/was located on, they were told that the Tenplex property was already spoken for and that it was going to be demolished to make way for additions to the new mall. I wonder if that all fell through now that the economy has gone downhill. Before I try to track down where I put the phone numbers for those two gentleman almost two years ago, does anyone know for a fact that the property is available for lease? My guess is that so much time has passed since I originally spoke to them that they already have their hands/money into other things, but you never know. Just the faint hope that someone could take over the Tenplex and re-open it as a theater, in whatever form that would be, makes me happy. I will try to give Vornado a call as soon as I get some free time and see what the real story is. If anyone finds out any info before then, be sure to post it. I hope you’re right Sebastian, and I think there’s a good chance you are, since I found it quite odd that the theater itself has been sitting there untouched for so long. It’s very possible the funding fell through for whatever was going to replace it. Let’s all cross our fingers that someone is able to save this former movie palace from the wrecking ball. : )
Hmm, Vornado is overseeing that whole makeover of the Bergen Mall as well as a few other buildings in that area.
Today I noticed that Vornado Realty Trust has slapped two “AVAILABLE” signs on the exterior of the building. So…they aren’t going to tear it down after all? Or turn it into a fitness center (as someone posted above)? Hey, maybe somebody on this board would like to lease it and reopen it as a theater! ;–) Vornado’s number is 1-800-242-4119….
Just for the record, after the theatre became a 4-plex, it became a 7-plex with the extension added on the front of the building with 3 screens that kind of ruined the lobby. I believe this may have opened in 1984 because I think that area was still new when I saw Passage to India on one of those screens. And then I am pretty sure it became an 8-plex with the twinning of the upstairs balcony theatre, and the breaking up of the main screen by building 2 small auditoriums in one end of it was the final and most tragic act that turned it into a 10-plex but also reduced the size of the wonderful main downstairs screen. But definitely screens #5/6/7 in the new building pre-dated the additional subdividing of the original.
Great memories! Ironically enough the game room was one of things I loved about the tenplex. I loved killing time before and after the movie playing games. I actually have some cool memories of the game room itself. One time was playing a game set up for four players and there was a very sad little boy watching me play. I could see he really wanted to play but had no money. I threw some extra quaters in and said “I could use some help.” It was nice to know that for 50 cents, a buck whatever I put in there, I made this kid’s day.
I was fortunate enough to have worked as an usher during its days when it was known as “The RKO Route 4 Tenplex.” This was in the mid 1980s , and it was a real treat. It had not yet gone downhill as it had started to after it became Cineplex Odeon, although that horrid game room was always a problem. It was a real hang out on the weekends for kids, and there was ALWAYS a problem, fights, etc. However, on the upside, the theatre saw its best days at this time and was known as the east coasts premier theatre. I remember on many occasions the sneak previews or directors previews they would screen there. I was a teenager and never quite understood why they held these mega events there, I assume because it was one of the nicer theaters, and it’s proximity to New York City, being only a 15 minute drive to the George Washington Bridge. The main theatre (theatre 1.) was the biggest, and they showed al the important films in that one. What I remember most is how many famous people came and went out of that theater., some for the premiere events, some because they simply lived in the area. The regulars, as we as the staff called them were, Eddie Murphy (always with an entourage of friends, and tried to get in for free all the time), Brooke Shields, Danny Aiello, Lawrence Taylor, Charlie Callas (he was a favorite, would pull my on my nose or do a funny dance in the lobby), Patrick Ewing, “Captain Haggerty” (he came every weekend for a matinee), Dick Shawn, Alan Alda, and many others. I recall, popping in on one time events or premieres were, Ron Howard, Julie Andrews and Leonard Nimoy. One summer Saturday night, Tom Cruise AND Paul Newman both came together came for The Color of Money premiere, Joanne Woodward came too with her and Newman’s daughters. Even Michael Jackson couldn’t resist a visit to The Tenplex. He came in, once, on a weekday matinee. So as you can imagine, that place was really poppin during its heyday years. Yes, it was a great big theatre, yet it kept its intimacy and had style, a giant marble escalator, and hundreds of black and white movie star pictures in gold frames on the many walls in the giant lobby. These horrible current day multiplex’s now will never capture what real movie going used to be like. As a kid, the RKO Tenplex (I’ll selfishly never know it as anything else), will hold many, many great memories.
Every time I look at those photographs I get very sad, as I remember what a true cinematic experience used to be like. On top of that, they also bring back memories of friends and family now long gone, who I had shared special times with there. I still find it hard to accept the fact that it’s gone, well, not gone yet, but closed. :(
those photo’s are from me. The link is closed because there wasnt any hits.
MikeP, can you repost the link to where you found that photo and all the others? I went back to what I thought was the original link, but I can’t find the photos.
Just saw The new Punisher movie at the Menlo 12 this weekend aand after reviewing the photos of the tenplex someone took I can confirm the theatre style is an near exact match right down to the carpet. The tenplex may have not originally been a Cineplex Odeon but it looks like they did most of the latter work there. Here’s one the pics of the tenplex that was posted. If you miss the 10 plex as I do and have yet to visit the Menlo park 12 you should. Your immediate reaction will probably be the same as mine, “I’m home.”
