Hollywood Hits Premiere Theatre
20 Hutchinson Drive,
Danvers,
MA
01923
20 Hutchinson Drive,
Danvers,
MA
01923
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The building is still standing. I toured it about 6 months after its closing, and it was a wreck then, so I can’t imagine how it has degraded since. The place was stripped at closing for valuables –– the trucks you see out front from time-to-time are mostly film crews parking their gear for the night (and mostly Adam Sandler’s team, as he shoots a lot in the area).
The rent for this space is extremely prohibitive, and its only conceivable use is as land for a new building.
Building and separate sign are still standing.
Is it still standing empty today, or has it been demolished?
Reopened on October 8th, 1999 as Hollywood Hits with the official opening on the 24th.
It may just be a team stripping everything from the place but I’ve seen 5-6 cars parked out in front of the theater for the last few weeks. No trucks or vans to haul stuff away though.
The Hollywood Hits theater closed for good on Sept 6, 2016.Cited as the reason was competition and being unable to raise money for improvements to the cinemas. Article here. http://www.salemnews.com/news/local_news/updated-hollywood-hits-closed-for-good/article_36ae57c0-b87d-5d56-b251-83c75cb6f551.html
Although the picture above is of the entrance, this is from Google Maps – you can actually see the building from the highway..
https://www.google.com/maps/Beacon Theatre.554308,-70.933286,3a,75y,90h,90t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1st63o9hVNXKyWz6Q4tj_9Rg!2e0!6m1!1e1
And if you move the picture to the right, you can see the marquee listings too.
This opened on September 26th, 1973. Grand opening ad uploaded here.
<<< Star Wars played a solid year in the big house here. >>>
Actually, STAR WARS played here for “only” 22 weeks.
The marquee has room for 12 movies, and has the numbers 1 through 10 on it. How many screens are here now? Are they planning to add more to match the sign?
Some photos of the Hollywood Hits Theatre
The Cinema City’s last day of operation was December 17, 1998 and the 20plex opened the following evening. Hollywood Hits opened around October 16, 1999.
Comments came in quick on this one. Before I had a chance to add to it.
The original 4plex theatres seated 750, 450 and 2 theatres of 250 each.
Some movie memories of the place.
Opening attractions were 1) Enter the Dragon 2) Happy Mothers Day, Love George 3)Last Tango In Paris 4) Harry In Your Pocket.
Godfather II opened in the 2 biggest houses here and at least one night played in all 4 houses.
Star Wars played a solid year in the big house here.
Stero was added in house 1 for a Fantasia reissue, it was run in magnetic stereo.
Upgraded to Dolby sound, I believe for Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Cinema 4 got Sensurround speakers for Midway, they remained for years afterwards with Universal paying a small rental charge.
When the 2 big houses were being split the Sensurround speakers were moved to cinema 3 for Battlestar Galactica, the rear speaker ended up facing the managers office and used to shake things off the shelves when in use.
In a 1998 Boston Globe that I happen to have kept, the two Loews Danvers theatres are listed as:
DANVERS LTM, Liberty Tree Mall (the twin)
DANVERS, Rte. 128 Exit 24 (the six-plex)
At some point, either Sack or Loews dropped the “Cinema City” name.
I should clarify my earlier comment, to say that this is one of the very few Sack Theatres still operating as a cinema. Four of their former downtown Boston theatres have been converted (or re-converted) to live stages.
The marquee for the former Liberty Tree Mall Cinema 1 & 2 is still standing, Robert, and is presently used as signage for the megaplex within the Liberty Tree Mall. (An image of the marquee can be found here: http://www.cinematour.com/tour.php?db=us&id=5126, while the former twin has an entry here @ Cinema Treasures – /theaters/10278/)) The twin apparently had more seats than the sixplex, but I personally can’t account for the exact total.
Sack did not believe in imaginative or evocative names for its suburban theatres. One was just ‘Danvers’ and the other was ‘Danvers Cinema City’.
I think the marquee for the twin is still standing there. What was the twin called? Were they big houses?
This is one of the very few former Sack Theatres still operating. The others:
Assembly Square Cinemas, Somerville (still run by Loews today)
Museum Place Cinemas, Salem (now run by Patriot Cinemas)
Lexington Flick, Lexington (now independent)
The then-Loews sixplex and the former Loews twin nearby closed the very day the Loews 20-screen megaplex opened its doors for business.
The current owners initially reopened this as a low-priced second-run house, with the name ‘Hollywood Hits Discount Theatre’. As time went on they gradually shifted towards full-priced first runs, and changed ‘Discount’ to ‘Premiere’ in their name.
At the time they opened, they declared their intent to create an entire chain of theatres to be called ‘Hollywood Hits’, but so far they have yet to open any others.
The official web site is http://www.hhdt.com/