AMC Factoria Cinemas

Saw Star Wars last night at the renovated Factoria Cinemas. Fully AMC-ized now. Nothing SRO left. Box office has been moved inside which its good. Lobby makes more efficient use of the space and is very AMC-clean in design. My showing was in #2 (the 2nd largest auditorium). House lights were on so I got some good photos. Auditoriums were gutted and the recliners were put in on a stepped slope (at least in 1 and 2). 1 and 2 retained 2 aisle/3 section layout. Peeked in #5 and it is now 2 aisles on the sides and one central seating section. #3 should mirror that. #4 retained its layout. Just with less seats. The entries to 3, 4 and 5 have been reconfigured.

Now to the screens: although hard to tell with screen #1 with my peek in, but it appears all screens are now common width and no masking! All the films playing in 2, 4 & 5 were scope and letterboxed within the screen. The screen in 2 also had rounded corners with the screen wrapped snug around the piping. Slight curve to it as well. These screens used to have moveable side masking (though the smaller 4, 6 & 7 had side masking but with the top masking movable to make flat a little larger). Flat will certainly be much larger now as the screens appear taller than they used to be.

The hall to 6, 7, & 8 was closed off and still under construction. Still a lot of work to be done on the exterior. The place was supposed to be open earlier than this but they must have fallen behind. There was evidence of hastiness in getting to this soft open: staples showing in wall curtains, molding not yet in place, construction boot prints in the restroom. Certainly wanted to cash in on Star Wars. Although I am opposed to unmasked screens I will still bring my kids here. Easy access off the freeway and lots of free parking. I am saddened by no trace of SRO being left but still glad the Factoria lives on. SRO-feel can still be experience at the SIFF Uptown and AMC Oak Tree in Seattle.

Side note: Are unmasked screens the new thing at AMC? The newer stadium AMC theaters I have been to all had proper masking (although the dreaded common width top-down variety) aside from LieMAX.

AMC modernized this movie theater so nicely no wonder the place looks like AMC ized

The Factoria Cinemas opened its doors with five screens on August 22, 1980 by the SRO chain.

This theater was notably enough for the murders of two brothers (John and Mark Bartol, ages 27 and 19) on May 20, 1982, who were both walking out the theater before being killed a few seconds later. The suspect, 24-year-old Seattle-native James Vigil Smith, was convicted on two life sentences and would later plead guilty that September on two counts of second-degree murder and was held on a $150,000 bond. It was unknown if he was still in jail or not, but possible.

On December 13, 1986, SRO sold all of its theaters to Cineplex Odeon, and in the late 1980s, three more screens were added bringing a total to eight screens. Cineplex Odeon operated the theater until its merger to Loews Cineplex in 1998, and Loews Cineplex took over the theater until its AMC merger in 2006.

Nice information Seattleprojectionist! And you are right, it did open with three screens as a triplex before two more were added and becoming a five-screen theater on December 17, 1982, nearly seven months after the murders that took place there. Thanks for the correction!

During his trial, Deputy Prosecutor Larry McKeeman told the jurors on September 20, 1982, just a day before sentencing, said that the suspect killed the two brothers after one of the boys made comments about a dispute the suspect was having with Ilgenfritz and Wentink after stepping out the doors of the theater.

The suspect after trial received 30 years to life in prison according to The Tacoma News Tribute, and 40 long years later, it was unknown if he was still behind bars.