Austintown Movies

The Austintown Movies will be closing on December 31st.

I believe Cleveland Cinemas just closed this theatre

I remember reading about an attempt by a local arts group to keep the Austintown Movies opened, and Cleveland Cinemas did book movies for at least one additional week there (I get their "Sprockets" emails)...whether this group was successful I don't know. Art and independent films are a hard sell in a market like Youngstown, and I'm surprised that the Austintown Movies held on as long as it did with that format. (I think it was a discount theatre for a while after the Regal megaplex opened up next door to Austintown Plaza, before the theatre became an art house.)

The theatre is still open as of today...apparently Cleveland Cinemas is still announcing films there on their website. I think the arts group I mentioned earlier was successful so far with keeping independent film alive in the Youngstown area.

Just to fill in a little history on the place, I used to be the manager of Austintown Movies from 2001-2004. Before 2001, it was known as The Austintown Cinema. Cleveland Cinemas took over operations of the theater from the owners of the Austintown Plaza, in which it is located. The theater reopened in November, 2001 as a second-run house but, after a few incredibly successful showings of some independent features, it became primarily an art-house. (The occasional Hollywood movie would show there in second-run as recently as the summer of 2005.) The theater was usually busiest right after the Oscar nominations as we'd usually be the only place in town to catch some of the more obscure films.

The Austintown Movies is still open, although the theatre no longer shows art/independent films. It is a discount subrun theatre again, charging $3.50 admission. As of May 1, the theatre will no longer be accepting Cleveland Cinemas passes-I think the theatre will officially change hands at that time.

Your right, this theater is still open. Here is an article that explains how the Austintown Movies was saved for at least one more year.

Austintown Cinema (as it was again known after Cleveland Cinemas relinquished operations) has now closed its doors. Sad but not unexpected as the new company was booking second-run Hollywood films instead of the independent films that brought the theater so much attention and support.

Does anyone have any contact information for the austintown plaza management or anyone who now controls the building of the former Austintown Cinema?

I cannot seem to find any information anywhere! Please e-mail me at listingman@gmail.com

Thanks!