Premier Cinemas
251 N. Broadway,
Pennsville,
NJ
08070
251 N. Broadway,
Pennsville,
NJ
08070
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Frank Theatres, Premiere Cinemas
Previous Names: Penn Theatre, Penn Twin Theatre
Nearby Theaters
Located in the Pennsville Shopping Center, the Penn Theatre opened on February 9, 1966 with Sean Connery in “Thunderball”. It was built by the Frank Theatres chain as a 750-seat single screen at a cost of $500,000 and was said to be the first new movie theatre in Salem County in 26 years. It operated as the Penn Theatre until around December 1978 when it was twinned and renamed Penn Twin Theatre. It was later renamed Premier Cinemas. It was operating under that name in 2004, but was closed and abandoned by 2014.
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RickB
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Opened with “Thunderball”. It was twinned either in or around December 1978 and was renamed Penn Twin. It was renamed the Premier Cinemas during the late-1990s.
The venue’s address was at 251 North Broadway in the Pennsville Shopping Center. The building and property were officially condemned in February of 2022 (long) after the building was ravaged by interlopers. The Penn Theatre opened on February 9, 1966 with Sean Connery in “Thunderball” the day after a benefit screening with the mayor in attendance.
The Pennsville Shopping Center had opened theatre-less in 1960 with a W.T. Grant, Acme Foods, Penn Drug, Penn Bowl, and others. In June of 1965, announced that Frank Theatres Circuit would be adding the property in an outparcel opposite the Penn Bowl. Samuel Frank and and Mayor Joshua Vincent were on hand at the benefit opening on February 8, 1966. It was a suburban luxury era theater which took advantage of a large, free parking lot and comfortable for the era seating.
To remain competitive, the building was twinned in 1978 operating as the Penn Twin Theatre. The Penn Twin closed in 1995 completing its 30-year leasing agreement.
In 1997, Motion Picture Entertainment Circuit took on the venue. Its plan was to refresh the two auditoriums and create an expanded mutliplex. The company narrowly missed its December 1997 target opening August 12, 1999 with “Runaway Bride” and “Deep Blue Sea.” At this relaunch, the venue had been reseated and equipped with Dolby audio to keep the presentation as contemporary as possible. It was now operating as the Premier Cinema - Pennsville and the planned expansion to a multiplex never took place.
Premier left following the showtimes of February 27, 2005. But on May 6, 2005, and despite long odds (twin theaters were out of vogue about 20 or 25 years earlier), the cinema continued. Under new - and the venue’s final - operators it was renamed as the Pennsville Cinema (singular though still a twin). It opened May 6, 2005 with “Sahara” and “Kingdom of Heaven.” The Pennsville Cinema closed permanently on October 8, 2006 with “School for Scoundrels” and “The Guardian.”
The property was optimistically offered for lease in 2006 and 2007 but an interior fire in November of 2007 ended any thought of continuing the cinema or salvaging the building. It sat dormant and was headed toward a date with the wrecking ball after, as noted, being vandalized constantly and condemned by the city.