Loton Todd announced the construction of the Motor Movie Drive-In Theatre in November of 1951. He, his wife, and daughters launched the Motor Movie on May 1, 1952 with Lew Ayres and Marilyn Maxwell in “New Mexico.”
Just a quick update. The Marblehead Auditorium Theatre discontinued movies after the February 15, 1931 silent film presentation of William Haines in “Way Out West” as it couldn’t afford to convert to sound. The venue was used for a handful of sporadic live events. But on October 10, 1936, ir re-emerged with a sound system playing talkies starting with Barbara Stanwyck in “A Message to Garcia” and Buster Keaton in “Grand Slam Opera.”
New Braunfels Alamo Drafthouse Market Place closed along with the rest of the circuit on March 16, 2020 for COVID-19 pandemic. The Alamo Drafthouse chain declared bankruptcy and announced permanent closure of three locations on March 3, 2021. The New Braunfels Alamo Drafthouse Market Place joined the Kansas City and one Austin location on that list.
The Alamo Drafthouse Mainstreet closed along with the circuit’s other locations on March 16, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Alamo Drafthouse then declared bankruptcy and announced permanent closure of three locations on March 3, 2021. Seven months shy of its 100th Anniversary, the Alamo Drafthouse Mainstreet joined the New Braunfels Alamo Drafthouse Market Place and one Austin location on that list.
Alamo Drafthouse declared bankruptcy and announced permanent closure of three locations on March 3, 2021. The flagship Alamo Drafthouse at the Ritz was sadly on that list and was joined by the New Braunfels Alamo Drafthouse Market Place and Kansas City’s venerable Mainstreet Theatre.
Cineworld Corp. of Sioux City, Iowa, decided to build the first of a chain of theaters at this location in Fort Worth with 4 identically-sized 200-seat auditoriums or 800 seats in total. It launched May 27, 1970. The circuit said it had five other theaters in development in Kentucky, Arizona and one in DFW including the Tuscon Cineworld at Monterey Village.
Cineworld closed in 1974. But Ted Conley’s Petite Amusements of Kansas (which became Texas-based T&S Theatres) took over and reopened the location on August 2, 1974. The T & S circuit, so named for Ted and wife, Shirley, sold off the Cineworld and its other locations to Texas Cinema Corporation (which would merge with Cinemark in 1979). But Cineworld was quickly jettisoned from the company’s portfolio so T&S came back to operate the four-screen operation before T&S’s permanent closure on July 10, 1980.
The Cineworld found a new operator in the Boren Theatre Circuit which took on the location with its final ads running to 1986 - likely when it closed. However, the local newspaper still carried it as an active location into February of 1988 - which could well be true.
After becoming the Capri Theatre on February 26, 1960 and tried second-run Hollywood fare to no success. Then the theatre switched to an “artistic adult” film theater. It then gravitated to an operation that switched between an adult theatre showing XXX films and it also became a Hispanic Theatre showing Spanish language films and hosting live events through 1976.
The Borzoi Theatre replaced the Capri as a repertory, double feature house launching April 15, 1977 with “8 ½” and “Cassonova ‘70.” The short-lived effort closed December 31, 1977. On April 21, 1978, the theatre relaunched as a repertory house under its original name, the Heights Theatre.
W.C. Austin gave it a run with “Gold Diggers of 1935” and the original “King Solomon’s Mine” on a double bill. The popular theatre had a productive final four months in 1983 hosting the public radio show, “A Prairie Home Companion,” hosting the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) Student Film Festival and having a high-profile charity film screening as one of its final shows. The Heights finally closed on May 8, 1983 The Heights sent theatre seats to the Ritz in Austin prior to its demolition in 1983. It also put the words, “Think Film” on the marquee for its demolition for the West Freeway expansion.
he Majestic appears to have launched February 2, 1912 with the Bison film, “The Missionary’s Gratitude.” The Majestic went out of business in 1917 when Trevor Faulkner created the new Cozy Theatre. The location became the W.I. Cook Hardware store from 1917 to 1940. Vera King took on the location and converted it back to a movie theater called the Gentry Theatre. Its first day was on May 15, 1941, appropriately opened with Bob Wills in “Take Me Back to Oklahoma.”
Pettigrew and Worley were the architects for the long-running theatre. Wealthy Cunningham was the final operator of the Bowie running it as a double-feature, sub-run discount house at $1.50 per admission. The first show would repeat with the second show getting one showtime. The theatre went to weekend only operations and had cult films at midnight. She closed up shop after the September 26, 1982 double feature of “Star Trek II” and “Quest for Fire” making “Star Trek II” the final film shown there. A portion of the seats went to the Cornerstone Theater on the south side. In 1985, a salvage sale was held prior to the theater’s conversion to a bank.
The Tower Theatre closed at the end of a 25-year lease on January 1, 1967 with Dean Martin in “Texas Across the River.” The Interstate Circuit said it would put its efforts toward the Wedgwood Theatre would launch that same year.
The Parkway Theatre closed on February 9, 1964 with Yul Bryner in “Kings of the Sun.” The demolition took place soon thereafter with a modern, Buddie Supermarket constructed on the site.
The Wedgwood Village shopping center was announced in 1956. It launched October 27, 1960 and was so successful that a one million dollar addition was announced in 1966 containing an Interstate Theatre. Both phases of the project were carried out by Kneer & Hamm Architects. The 966-seat Wedgwood Theatre opened April 6, 1967 with a three-day red carpet launch with “How to Succeed in Business Without Trying.” Director William Friedkin was in town promoting the World Premiere screenings of Sonny & Cher’s “Good Times” and made comments. It became the ABC Wedgwood Theatre 1&2 when ABC Theatres split the auditorium on February 25th, 1977. It became the Plitt Wedgwood 1&2 when Plitt took over the ABC circuit.
From 1983-1984, the viability of the Wedgwood was in severe jeopardy as a glut of multiplexes were being built just exits away as Loews opened the 6-screen 20 & 287 nearby in 1984 and already opened its Lincoln Square in 1983. UA opened the UA Bowen 8 in 1984 along with the Las Vegas Trail 8, UA South 8, and UA North Star 8. AMC had both Green Oaks and the nearby Hulen. It was the latter that rankled Plitt which had begun showing art films to good crowds, despite the competition, at the Wedgwood. AMC dedicated one of the Hulen screens to art cinema.
Plitt downgraded the Wedgwood to sub-run discount status in March of 1986 with $1 admission. Cinemark took on the venue in 1987 and would quadplex closing it four months beginning in April of 1988. It re-emerged as the Wedgwood 4 Theatre on August 5, 1988 and now had $1 movies and $1 movie rentals. Cinemark also created video rental locations in its Arlington and Belaire locations that it had also acquired from Plitt.
Cinemark dropped the theater at the end of a 30-year lease in March of 1997. The theatre would go independent under the banner of the Wedgwood Village 4 Theatre in April of 1997 under a 5-year leasing agreement. The theatre retained (or brought back) the video rentals. It closed as the Wedgwood Village 4 Theatre on March 31, 2002. It became an indy coffee house known as Artistic Blends Coffee House and Theater from 2004 to 2006 before closing. The space was then used by the Fountains Fellowship Church.
The Loews Lincoln Square opened June 17, 1983. It was part of a movie theater building explosion in a market that only had 4 movie theaters with a total of 20 screens in a population of around 200,000 residents. The mid-1980s was the era of the multiplex and for growing Arlington, Texas, four movie theater circuits were vying for the same zones. The newly created Interstate 20 was creating a retail nexus in South Arlington with exits from Fort Worth to Grand Prairie housing new build cinemas.
After Loews opened its Lincoln Square in 1983, UA opened the UA Bowen 8 in 1984 along with the Las Vegas Trail 8, UA South 8, and UA North Star 8. Loews launched the almost-identical 6-screen 20 & 287 in 1984. The UA Bowen 8 would be joined an exit to the West by the AMC Green Oaks, yet another eight-screen operation. Finally, General Cinema would open its eight-screener, the Arlington Park Square, in 1986 a few exits to the east as South Arlington was replete the multiplexes.
The marketplace changed markedly with the birth of the megaplex area. Grand Prairie got two with the UA and Cinemark multiplexes and just an exit outside of Arlington was the UA Eastchase opening in 1997. When AMC opened it AMC Parks in 2002, the remaining 1980s theaters were in retreat mode. Loews closed January 4, 2004. Loews would then close the 20 & 287 on January 30, 2004 completing its leasing term there.
Grandbury-based Great Texas Movie Company came to finish out a short-term lease at the Lincoln Square while trying to get a liquor license as part of its Movie Tavern line of theaters. It failed to get the license and only had a month-to-month leasing agreement that it carried on for one full year. It decided against creating a kitchen closing permanently on January 30, 2004. The theatre was emptied and demolished soon thereafter. A Studio Movie Grill was built elsewhere in the plaza in 2017.
The mid-1980s was the era of the multiplex and for growing Arlington, Texas, four movie theater circuits were vying for the same zones. For South Arlington, the newly created Interstate 20 would soon create a retail nexus in South Arlington and exits from Fort Worth to Grand Prairie would become a major cinema-going corridor and . UA opened the UA Bowen 8 in 1984 along with the Las Vegas Trail 8, UA South 8, and UA North Star 8. Loews launched the 6-screen 20 & 287 as well as the Lincoln Square a year earlier. The UA Bowen 8 opened in 1984 and would be joined by the AMC Green Oaks, yet another eight-screen operation opening just about a mile away on November 21, 1984. Finally, General Cinema would open its eight-screener, the Arlington Park Square, in 1986 a few exits to the east as South Arlington was replete the multiplexes.
The circuits competed for clearances throughout the 1980s and 1990s. would come online within two years about two miles to the east. Up and down I-20, more theaters sprouted at exits such as the Cinemark Grand Prairie megaplex to the east, the Sony CityView at Bryant Irvin, et al. And by the mid-1990s, a new breed of megaplexes challenged the aging multiplexes.
AMC would close the Green Oaks in 1999 deciding against a lease renewal leaving at the 15-year point of a potential 30-year lease. It focuses on a new mall megaplex, the delayed AMC Parks that opened in 2002. Meanwhile, General Cinema would shutter all of its Tarrant County locations on October 5, 2000 including the nearby Arlington Park Square 8. Premier Theaters of Granbury took on a different complex, the Ridgmar Town Square, that allowed for pizza, appetizers and wine to be served in the complex becoming the Ridgmar Movie Tavern. It launched on November 16, 2001.
Deciding that similar magic could be found in the vacant AMC Green Oaks, the circuit completed a similar conversion creating the Movie Tavern at Green Oaks. It launched on July 12th, 2002 using it catchphrase of “Where movies never tasted so good.” A Movie Taverns would also be created at the Hulen Mall former UA Hulen 8 multiplex and Bedford’s Central Park 8 formerly of General Cinema and EFW operations. Movie Tavern claimed to be the originator of circuits that followed including Texas-based Studio Movie Grill and Alamo Drafthouse and AMC’s efforts with its Dine-In theatre locations and Cinemark experimenting with CUT!
Cinemark’s LeRoy Mitchell acquired the Movie Taverns but was forced to sell them when Cinemark took on the Rave Circuit due to competitive concerns. VSS-Southern Theatres bought the Movie Tavern circuit and opened the West 7th Theatre location. In November of 2018, Marcus obtained the VSS-Southern circuit and while the flagship Ridgmar would be shuttered, Green Oaks Movie Tavern was still functioning in the 2020s. Its name was changed to Movie Tavern by Marcus Green Oaks.
Hulen Mall opened theatreless in 1977. The UA Hulen Cinema 6 opened as an outparcel building just to southwest of Hulen Mall in 1979. In 1985, AMC announced its intention to move into the outparcel building called Loehmann’s Plaza anchored by Loehmann’s and joined by the Drug Emporium, Tippin’s Pies, and what on the drawing board as the AMC Loehmann’s 10. But while still in development, the project was soon renamed the AMC Hulen 10 Theatres located just about a mile to the south of the UA Hulen 6.
The AMC Hulen 10 launched December 13, 1985. To keep up with AMC — if not confuse potential moviegoers — UA would transform its Hulen operation to ten screens and the two co-existed as Hulen 10s. Box office personnel would constantly have to help customers with a courteous, “You want the other Hulen 10 theater a mile away.”
AMC left the theatre behind on September 10, 2006. Four months later, Regal - which had taken over UA theaters - would vacate the nearby Hulen on January 7, 2007. But both theaters found new owners almost immediately. Starplex Cinemas took on the AMC venue relaunching on December 8, 2006 renaming it as Hulen Movies 10. On January 15, 2010, the theatre was slightly rebranded as Hulen Stadium 10 with all theaters having stadium seating. As for the former UA Hulen 10, it became the Hulen Movie Tavern on September 7, 2007 after receiving a $2.5 million makeover with stadium-style seating with high-back leather rocker chairs.
As of the 2020s, both theatres were still competing in the same zone. The Starplex theatre closed very briefly in December of 2015 at the end of its 30-year lease. AMC came back renaming it the AMC Hulen 10 on December 15, 2015. In August of 2017, the theatre received a major makeover with loungers and new kiosks as part of its new look. The Movie Tavern Circuit was taken on by Marcus which changed the name of the competing venue to the Movie Tavern by Marcus Hulen in 2019.
The Cozy Theatre launched April 16, 1913. It closed but a new operator was identified and the Cozy tried again beginning December 24, 1913. A new-build Cozy Theatre was constructed in 1917 at 300 West Gentry Avenue opening May 16, 1917. The Cozy installed RCA Photophone sound to stay current on April 13, 1930 with “Broadway Scandals.” The Cozy went out of business on March 29, 1955 with “Francis Joins the WACs.” Its top was lopped off when People’s National Bank established its long-running financial institution there.
Update - Also known as the Louisville Picture Theatre in the 1930s
Lembach and Wiese luanched the Majestic Theatre on November 9, 1915 with a live play.
Loton Todd announced the construction of the Motor Movie Drive-In Theatre in November of 1951. He, his wife, and daughters launched the Motor Movie on May 1, 1952 with Lew Ayres and Marilyn Maxwell in “New Mexico.”
In 1958, the former Ashton Theatre was converted to the office for the Bureau of Reclamation.
Just a quick update. The Marblehead Auditorium Theatre discontinued movies after the February 15, 1931 silent film presentation of William Haines in “Way Out West” as it couldn’t afford to convert to sound. The venue was used for a handful of sporadic live events. But on October 10, 1936, ir re-emerged with a sound system playing talkies starting with Barbara Stanwyck in “A Message to Garcia” and Buster Keaton in “Grand Slam Opera.”
Update: Demolished in 2017.
New Braunfels Alamo Drafthouse Market Place closed along with the rest of the circuit on March 16, 2020 for COVID-19 pandemic. The Alamo Drafthouse chain declared bankruptcy and announced permanent closure of three locations on March 3, 2021. The New Braunfels Alamo Drafthouse Market Place joined the Kansas City and one Austin location on that list.
The Alamo Drafthouse Mainstreet closed along with the circuit’s other locations on March 16, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Alamo Drafthouse then declared bankruptcy and announced permanent closure of three locations on March 3, 2021. Seven months shy of its 100th Anniversary, the Alamo Drafthouse Mainstreet joined the New Braunfels Alamo Drafthouse Market Place and one Austin location on that list.
Alamo Drafthouse declared bankruptcy and announced permanent closure of three locations on March 3, 2021. The flagship Alamo Drafthouse at the Ritz was sadly on that list and was joined by the New Braunfels Alamo Drafthouse Market Place and Kansas City’s venerable Mainstreet Theatre.
The Clinton Theatre launched June 12, 1947 with Gregory Peck in “The Macomber Affair.”
The Panhandle Drive-In launched May 12, 1954 with Gig Young in “Arena” and Janet Leigh in “Fearless Fagan.”
Cineworld Corp. of Sioux City, Iowa, decided to build the first of a chain of theaters at this location in Fort Worth with 4 identically-sized 200-seat auditoriums or 800 seats in total. It launched May 27, 1970. The circuit said it had five other theaters in development in Kentucky, Arizona and one in DFW including the Tuscon Cineworld at Monterey Village.
Cineworld closed in 1974. But Ted Conley’s Petite Amusements of Kansas (which became Texas-based T&S Theatres) took over and reopened the location on August 2, 1974. The T & S circuit, so named for Ted and wife, Shirley, sold off the Cineworld and its other locations to Texas Cinema Corporation (which would merge with Cinemark in 1979). But Cineworld was quickly jettisoned from the company’s portfolio so T&S came back to operate the four-screen operation before T&S’s permanent closure on July 10, 1980.
The Cineworld found a new operator in the Boren Theatre Circuit which took on the location with its final ads running to 1986 - likely when it closed. However, the local newspaper still carried it as an active location into February of 1988 - which could well be true.
After becoming the Capri Theatre on February 26, 1960 and tried second-run Hollywood fare to no success. Then the theatre switched to an “artistic adult” film theater. It then gravitated to an operation that switched between an adult theatre showing XXX films and it also became a Hispanic Theatre showing Spanish language films and hosting live events through 1976.
The Borzoi Theatre replaced the Capri as a repertory, double feature house launching April 15, 1977 with “8 ½” and “Cassonova ‘70.” The short-lived effort closed December 31, 1977. On April 21, 1978, the theatre relaunched as a repertory house under its original name, the Heights Theatre.
W.C. Austin gave it a run with “Gold Diggers of 1935” and the original “King Solomon’s Mine” on a double bill. The popular theatre had a productive final four months in 1983 hosting the public radio show, “A Prairie Home Companion,” hosting the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) Student Film Festival and having a high-profile charity film screening as one of its final shows. The Heights finally closed on May 8, 1983 The Heights sent theatre seats to the Ritz in Austin prior to its demolition in 1983. It also put the words, “Think Film” on the marquee for its demolition for the West Freeway expansion.
he Majestic appears to have launched February 2, 1912 with the Bison film, “The Missionary’s Gratitude.” The Majestic went out of business in 1917 when Trevor Faulkner created the new Cozy Theatre. The location became the W.I. Cook Hardware store from 1917 to 1940. Vera King took on the location and converted it back to a movie theater called the Gentry Theatre. Its first day was on May 15, 1941, appropriately opened with Bob Wills in “Take Me Back to Oklahoma.”
May 10, 1983 - W.C. Austin closes yet prepares for demolition by posting “Think Film” on the Heights marquee and leaves some one sheets as reminders.
Pettigrew and Worley were the architects for the long-running theatre. Wealthy Cunningham was the final operator of the Bowie running it as a double-feature, sub-run discount house at $1.50 per admission. The first show would repeat with the second show getting one showtime. The theatre went to weekend only operations and had cult films at midnight. She closed up shop after the September 26, 1982 double feature of “Star Trek II” and “Quest for Fire” making “Star Trek II” the final film shown there. A portion of the seats went to the Cornerstone Theater on the south side. In 1985, a salvage sale was held prior to the theater’s conversion to a bank.
The Tower Theatre closed at the end of a 25-year lease on January 1, 1967 with Dean Martin in “Texas Across the River.” The Interstate Circuit said it would put its efforts toward the Wedgwood Theatre would launch that same year.
The Parkway Theatre closed on February 9, 1964 with Yul Bryner in “Kings of the Sun.” The demolition took place soon thereafter with a modern, Buddie Supermarket constructed on the site.
The Wedgwood Village shopping center was announced in 1956. It launched October 27, 1960 and was so successful that a one million dollar addition was announced in 1966 containing an Interstate Theatre. Both phases of the project were carried out by Kneer & Hamm Architects. The 966-seat Wedgwood Theatre opened April 6, 1967 with a three-day red carpet launch with “How to Succeed in Business Without Trying.” Director William Friedkin was in town promoting the World Premiere screenings of Sonny & Cher’s “Good Times” and made comments. It became the ABC Wedgwood Theatre 1&2 when ABC Theatres split the auditorium on February 25th, 1977. It became the Plitt Wedgwood 1&2 when Plitt took over the ABC circuit.
From 1983-1984, the viability of the Wedgwood was in severe jeopardy as a glut of multiplexes were being built just exits away as Loews opened the 6-screen 20 & 287 nearby in 1984 and already opened its Lincoln Square in 1983. UA opened the UA Bowen 8 in 1984 along with the Las Vegas Trail 8, UA South 8, and UA North Star 8. AMC had both Green Oaks and the nearby Hulen. It was the latter that rankled Plitt which had begun showing art films to good crowds, despite the competition, at the Wedgwood. AMC dedicated one of the Hulen screens to art cinema.
Plitt downgraded the Wedgwood to sub-run discount status in March of 1986 with $1 admission. Cinemark took on the venue in 1987 and would quadplex closing it four months beginning in April of 1988. It re-emerged as the Wedgwood 4 Theatre on August 5, 1988 and now had $1 movies and $1 movie rentals. Cinemark also created video rental locations in its Arlington and Belaire locations that it had also acquired from Plitt.
Cinemark dropped the theater at the end of a 30-year lease in March of 1997. The theatre would go independent under the banner of the Wedgwood Village 4 Theatre in April of 1997 under a 5-year leasing agreement. The theatre retained (or brought back) the video rentals. It closed as the Wedgwood Village 4 Theatre on March 31, 2002. It became an indy coffee house known as Artistic Blends Coffee House and Theater from 2004 to 2006 before closing. The space was then used by the Fountains Fellowship Church.
Made a comeback in 1985 for three seasons as a Spanish language drive-in theatre, according to the local paper, closing in 1987.
Closed after the November 30, 1974 double-feature of “My Name is Nobody” and “Kid Blue.”
The Loews Lincoln Square opened June 17, 1983. It was part of a movie theater building explosion in a market that only had 4 movie theaters with a total of 20 screens in a population of around 200,000 residents. The mid-1980s was the era of the multiplex and for growing Arlington, Texas, four movie theater circuits were vying for the same zones. The newly created Interstate 20 was creating a retail nexus in South Arlington with exits from Fort Worth to Grand Prairie housing new build cinemas.
After Loews opened its Lincoln Square in 1983, UA opened the UA Bowen 8 in 1984 along with the Las Vegas Trail 8, UA South 8, and UA North Star 8. Loews launched the almost-identical 6-screen 20 & 287 in 1984. The UA Bowen 8 would be joined an exit to the West by the AMC Green Oaks, yet another eight-screen operation. Finally, General Cinema would open its eight-screener, the Arlington Park Square, in 1986 a few exits to the east as South Arlington was replete the multiplexes.
The marketplace changed markedly with the birth of the megaplex area. Grand Prairie got two with the UA and Cinemark multiplexes and just an exit outside of Arlington was the UA Eastchase opening in 1997. When AMC opened it AMC Parks in 2002, the remaining 1980s theaters were in retreat mode. Loews closed January 4, 2004. Loews would then close the 20 & 287 on January 30, 2004 completing its leasing term there.
Grandbury-based Great Texas Movie Company came to finish out a short-term lease at the Lincoln Square while trying to get a liquor license as part of its Movie Tavern line of theaters. It failed to get the license and only had a month-to-month leasing agreement that it carried on for one full year. It decided against creating a kitchen closing permanently on January 30, 2004. The theatre was emptied and demolished soon thereafter. A Studio Movie Grill was built elsewhere in the plaza in 2017.
The mid-1980s was the era of the multiplex and for growing Arlington, Texas, four movie theater circuits were vying for the same zones. For South Arlington, the newly created Interstate 20 would soon create a retail nexus in South Arlington and exits from Fort Worth to Grand Prairie would become a major cinema-going corridor and . UA opened the UA Bowen 8 in 1984 along with the Las Vegas Trail 8, UA South 8, and UA North Star 8. Loews launched the 6-screen 20 & 287 as well as the Lincoln Square a year earlier. The UA Bowen 8 opened in 1984 and would be joined by the AMC Green Oaks, yet another eight-screen operation opening just about a mile away on November 21, 1984. Finally, General Cinema would open its eight-screener, the Arlington Park Square, in 1986 a few exits to the east as South Arlington was replete the multiplexes.
The circuits competed for clearances throughout the 1980s and 1990s. would come online within two years about two miles to the east. Up and down I-20, more theaters sprouted at exits such as the Cinemark Grand Prairie megaplex to the east, the Sony CityView at Bryant Irvin, et al. And by the mid-1990s, a new breed of megaplexes challenged the aging multiplexes.
AMC would close the Green Oaks in 1999 deciding against a lease renewal leaving at the 15-year point of a potential 30-year lease. It focuses on a new mall megaplex, the delayed AMC Parks that opened in 2002. Meanwhile, General Cinema would shutter all of its Tarrant County locations on October 5, 2000 including the nearby Arlington Park Square 8. Premier Theaters of Granbury took on a different complex, the Ridgmar Town Square, that allowed for pizza, appetizers and wine to be served in the complex becoming the Ridgmar Movie Tavern. It launched on November 16, 2001.
Deciding that similar magic could be found in the vacant AMC Green Oaks, the circuit completed a similar conversion creating the Movie Tavern at Green Oaks. It launched on July 12th, 2002 using it catchphrase of “Where movies never tasted so good.” A Movie Taverns would also be created at the Hulen Mall former UA Hulen 8 multiplex and Bedford’s Central Park 8 formerly of General Cinema and EFW operations. Movie Tavern claimed to be the originator of circuits that followed including Texas-based Studio Movie Grill and Alamo Drafthouse and AMC’s efforts with its Dine-In theatre locations and Cinemark experimenting with CUT!
Cinemark’s LeRoy Mitchell acquired the Movie Taverns but was forced to sell them when Cinemark took on the Rave Circuit due to competitive concerns. VSS-Southern Theatres bought the Movie Tavern circuit and opened the West 7th Theatre location. In November of 2018, Marcus obtained the VSS-Southern circuit and while the flagship Ridgmar would be shuttered, Green Oaks Movie Tavern was still functioning in the 2020s. Its name was changed to Movie Tavern by Marcus Green Oaks.
Hulen Mall opened theatreless in 1977. The UA Hulen Cinema 6 opened as an outparcel building just to southwest of Hulen Mall in 1979. In 1985, AMC announced its intention to move into the outparcel building called Loehmann’s Plaza anchored by Loehmann’s and joined by the Drug Emporium, Tippin’s Pies, and what on the drawing board as the AMC Loehmann’s 10. But while still in development, the project was soon renamed the AMC Hulen 10 Theatres located just about a mile to the south of the UA Hulen 6.
The AMC Hulen 10 launched December 13, 1985. To keep up with AMC — if not confuse potential moviegoers — UA would transform its Hulen operation to ten screens and the two co-existed as Hulen 10s. Box office personnel would constantly have to help customers with a courteous, “You want the other Hulen 10 theater a mile away.”
AMC left the theatre behind on September 10, 2006. Four months later, Regal - which had taken over UA theaters - would vacate the nearby Hulen on January 7, 2007. But both theaters found new owners almost immediately. Starplex Cinemas took on the AMC venue relaunching on December 8, 2006 renaming it as Hulen Movies 10. On January 15, 2010, the theatre was slightly rebranded as Hulen Stadium 10 with all theaters having stadium seating. As for the former UA Hulen 10, it became the Hulen Movie Tavern on September 7, 2007 after receiving a $2.5 million makeover with stadium-style seating with high-back leather rocker chairs.
As of the 2020s, both theatres were still competing in the same zone. The Starplex theatre closed very briefly in December of 2015 at the end of its 30-year lease. AMC came back renaming it the AMC Hulen 10 on December 15, 2015. In August of 2017, the theatre received a major makeover with loungers and new kiosks as part of its new look. The Movie Tavern Circuit was taken on by Marcus which changed the name of the competing venue to the Movie Tavern by Marcus Hulen in 2019.
The Cozy Theatre launched April 16, 1913. It closed but a new operator was identified and the Cozy tried again beginning December 24, 1913. A new-build Cozy Theatre was constructed in 1917 at 300 West Gentry Avenue opening May 16, 1917. The Cozy installed RCA Photophone sound to stay current on April 13, 1930 with “Broadway Scandals.” The Cozy went out of business on March 29, 1955 with “Francis Joins the WACs.” Its top was lopped off when People’s National Bank established its long-running financial institution there.