The Screens at the Continent

Six weeks? That's a short run for ANYTHING. (refering to the reopening)

You have the status listed as 'Closed', but the official web site has showtimes. Is it open or not?

This theatre is still open for business. The website does list show times for this week.

Not sure why when I submitted this theatre Cinema Treasures marked it closed. The Screens at the Continent is OPEN and not CLOSED.

A Columbus business first website gives the eight screen theater a seat count of 3000.

December 6, 2002 by Brian R. Ball

Cinema Grill to take Continent theaters:

"When developer Ron Huff and his partners in Apollo Realty Finance first contemplated reviving the aging Continent nearly three years ago, he never planned to resuscitate its nine-screen movie theater amid an explosion of cinema complexes around Columbus.

"It was scheduled to be torn down before we discovered it was an asset to the property," Huff said.

After considering other entertainment ideas, the developer has hired Atlanta-based Restaurant Entertainment Group to transform the 3,000-seat cineplex, which had operated under the Loews and Sony flags, into its Cinema Grill restaurant theater. It will include eight movie screens and seating capacity as low as 1,200 seats.

"This is a big deal," Huff said.

Restaurant Entertainment started its first Cinema Grill 20 years ago in Orlando, Fla. Its portfolio of 15 Cinema Grills consists primarily of single-, double- and triple-screen theaters abandoned by the major moviehouses in favor of 18- to 30-screen theater centers.

Cinema Grill expects to begin renovating the 30,000-square-foot complex soon as it aims for a June debut.

"It's a unique movie and dining experience," says James T. Duffy, the company's president. "It combines it all in one."

The Cinema Grill will show first-run movies as well as art films. Tickets will cost about $1 or $1.50 less than other first-run theaters, he said, with matinee prices at about $3.50.

The company this year opened a seven-screen Cinema Grill in the Dallas area, one of three Cinema Grills to go beyond the two- or three-screen format.

"There are a lot of six- and eight-screen multiplexes that can still be viable," said Duffy, a 1969 graduate of Ohio State University and 1965 grad of Upper Arlington High School. "That's where our concept comes in."

Not concessionaires
Cinema Grill includes an extensive menu of pizzas, hamburgers and toasted sandwiches as well as microbrewery beers and wines. It also has several desserts on its menu".

Moved to a new ownership in late June, 2007.

Went to the continent in the early 90s and the Funny Bone, near where I worked at Ticketmonster for a while. Then continent fell into disrepair, but I guess somebody re opened, and trying to re establish the area. At one time, the sparkling side of the city.

This was called the Continent Cinemas in 1980, when it was part of the Mid States Theaters chain. At that time it had seven screens.

I can remember how cool it was because the projection booth was visible from a platform in the lobby with a long glass wall. been decades since I have been there the last I remember was the early 90's when it was all boarded up, and looking at a wrecking ball with the whole continent complex.

Not sure how anyone expected to re-open this as a 1st run location with all the over screening by AMC and CINEMARK in the area. Supprised it didn't make it as an art house because the DREXEL is all the way on the east side!

If I make it back up to columbus in the next year I will have to stop by and check it out.

Is this theatre still open? The web site no longer exists.

www.thescreensatthecontinent.com

is the current link to the theater.

CORRECTION.... screens8.net is the correct site, the other one will eventually link you there.

Chuck

Back in the late 70's and 80's, there wasn't even a glass wall for the booth area...4 of the projectors sat open in the lobby, where they picked up lots of dirt and smoke (smoking was legal in lobbies then). Those 4 rooms had some of the dirtiest prints imaginable. Also there was an open area between each pair of the original rooms, so bleed through from the next room was very bad....AND, the image was projected from the rear corner of the room, so the image was always somewhat out of focus.

In any event, this theatre played almost every available 70mm film, including Alien, The Rose, 2010, The Mission and many more. Remarkably, it did not play 70mm RETURN OF THE JEDI...no theatre in Columbus did.

It also played DAMNATION ALLEY in SOUND 360, which placed speakers on the side and back walls of the theatre. This was before the general release of STAR WARS and Dolby Stereo.

They always had the best movies and they always looked really bad. But, I saw a LOT of films there.

I must correct the above statement. DAMNATION ALLEY came out AFTER Star Wars was released. Apologies for my mistake.