Stonestown Twin
501 Buckingham Way,
San Francisco,
CA
94132
501 Buckingham Way,
San Francisco,
CA
94132
9 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 34 of 34 comments
Hi Jason,
The only photos I’ve come across are the theatre in it’s current state on Cinematour at:
http://www.cinematour.com/tour.php?db=us&id=2933
Believe it or not, this used to be one of the premire big blockbuster theatres in The City. When Star Wars Episode 1 came out Lucas wanted it shown only in the best, most choice theatres in the country. This one qualified at the time.
Saw many big hits here over the years. Fight Club, Nurse Betty, Moulin Rouge, Space Cowboys, to name a few. In 2002 the new Century 20 down the street opened, and this turned art house. I think the biggest crowds they’ve ever seen here since 2002 was for Brokeback Mountain. (And this was an awful place to show it.)
And yes, for scope 2.35:1 films they bring down the top masking and shrink the screen down even further…
Many General Cinema locations were ‘twinned’ in this manner as well.
(Sorry, got cut off) Does anyone have pictures of the original auditorium? I’m sure it was a nice place to see a movie. But I’m sure more fans of indie-fare will flock down to the Embarcadero or the Balboa rather than this place.
What a bizarre theatre. I was here on vacation in December ‘05 when “Brokeback Mountain” was here on both twinned auditoriums. The twinned-plex is far too narrow and the screens are small even at 1.85 common width. (Imagine watching a scope movie there on even smaller of a screen!) And as Eric Hooper mentioned, the (still comfy) seats were not rearranged so watching your movie with your head constantly turned was annoying.
(With that said, my dad and I watched the film in seats right behind some wheelchair spots, so the ample legroom was great! All that was missing were stools.)
DTS sound is also installed, although since this is an art house, most of the films will probably be in Dolby Stereo.
I guess it survives as a art-house double now. I can’t imagine seeing a big-budget movie in this place.
Does anyone have pictures
Regal got rid of the Metro Center after Century Theatres opened a new multiplex in Daly City, about a mile north of Colma. This new multiplex is a mile and a half south of Stonestown Galleria.
I recall hearing that UA wanted to build a megaplex on the site and/or in the large parking lot there, but the surrounding neighborhood of homes was ferociously opposed to it and they didn’t get approval to do it.
Interesting that Regal is spending money on the place…at a time when all of their other theatres in SF are for sale, and they were so quick to get rid of their Metro Center Colma location. First new carpet, and now new paint? I wonder if they’ll install new seats that actually face the screen?
I saw “Whats UP Doc?” at the UA Cinema when it was a single screen in 1972. It doesn’t work that great as a twin so I never went back. Im surprised that its still operating since it was a UA house in the Stonestown Mall. Im surprised they haven’t built a megaplex since its a mall location.brucec
Hi Folks: Just a quick update. In the last few weeks the exterior of the theatre received a new coat on paint. Also painted were the various guard rails in the front of the theatre and the light posts. The theatre has a nice new clean look to it.
Best regards,
Mike Croaro
The San Francisco Chronicle shows the theatre opening in 1971 as the “UA Cinema”. In early November 1973 the theatre closed and was twinned in just 1 week. It reopened at the “UA Stonestown Twin”. As Eric and Steve have mentioned the seating was never re-arranged so the sightlines are somewhat unusual. New carpeting was installed in late in 2003 and it is a great improvement over the decades old orange (yes orange!) carpet.
The location of the theater is very convient fescape the very busy downtown San Francisco. I only went there once and found the look & decor kinda still stuck in the late 70s meets 80s how theaters once looked at one time. An update is needed if the chain decides to do so. And yes the positioning of the chairs really doesn’t give patrons like me the full on movie experience. I felt I should I brought my binoculars.