Kendall Mall Twin
8851 SW 107th Avenue,
Miami,
FL
33176
8851 SW 107th Avenue,
Miami,
FL
33176
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Loews, Wometco Theatres
Previous Names: Sunset at Kendall Mall
Nearby Theaters
This independent twin jumped the gun on all the major chains in recognizing Kendall as a prime growing South Florida community opening on December 15, 1971. Loews soon noticed the grosses and took over the site in 1974.
Since this section of Kendall is close to the University of Miami, the theatre thrived on student trade and offbeat films when major product was not available. College themed films like “The Paper Chase” and midnight movies ran for months after other locations had pulled them.
The theatre started to struggle when AMC’s Kendall Town and Country 10 took off in 1985. Loews walked away and it ran independent again until Wometco stepped in, even running it as the Sunset at Kendall Mall in 1986, an attempt to keep up the legacy of the Sunset Theatre, their recently closed historic arthouse nearby.
It did not work, and the Kendall Twin closed in 1988.
Contributed by
Al Alvarez
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Recent comments (view all 4 comments)
I’m not sure if this is where I saw “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” with Richard Dreyfuss in 1977. There was a looong line.
Most probably the Dadeland Twin.
In 1988 the space was used by the Actors' Playhouse until they relocated to the Miracle Theater in Coral Gables.
In late 1991 or early 1992 I saw a play here with some other recent University of Miami grads and students. That the cinema had “thrived on student trade” as described above perhaps explains why the playhouse staff was not surprised we were U.M. students when to me the place was not that close to U.M.
Months later I thought I’d heard the place had been too damaged by Hurricane Andrew (August 1992) to function any longer, though the Actor’s Playhouse page says they did not move to the Miracle until 1995.
I walked by on February 14th, 2016. A JC Penney Home Store replaced the auditoriums years ago and to the left of that an empty storefront sits where I believe the entrance and lobby were the night I saw the play.
The Kendall Mall Twin Cinema opened on December 15th, 1971 with “The French Connection” and “Bananas”. It was taken over by Wometco, who reopened it as Sunset at Kendall Mall on November 21st, 1986. Grand opening ads posted.