Cinepolis Chelsea Cinemas
260 West 23rd Street,
New York,
NY
10011
260 West 23rd Street,
New York,
NY
10011
11 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 77 comments
The two obvious reasons BowTie would sell are either the theater wasn’t doing the business they were hoping for (someone who came to this theater more often than me could probably say if the renovations led to a big increase in attendance), or Cinepolis' offer was too attractive to pass up.
It could be Cinepolis was interested in trying to get into the Manhattan market (plenty of exhibitors are) and probably easier to make a deal with BowTie than a mega chain like Regal or AMC.
Hello-
i saw Me Before You here a few weeks ago. i’m assuming the deal was already in the works at the time. the question i have is simple- with all the $$$ Bow Tie put into renovating the theater and updating the projection and sound in the auditoriums why would they sell?
Went here tonight, and it’s clearly in a transition period. The Bowtie signage outside was gone, with just a simple Cinepolis banner in its place, and the Cinepolis logo was used before the movie, but the ticket and seats still bore the Bowtie logo. Concessions seemed no different than under Bowtie, but that may be updated in the future.
Overall, never been really impressed with this theater, not a convenient location for me, screens on the smaller size, and masking either not used or properly set up, though the theater is notable to me as being the first in NY with digital projection when it played An Ideal Husband in Summer 1999.
The theater served a limited beer and wine selection during Tribeca this year (only on the top floors – not in the main lobby). As for the clearance issue – everyone except Warners and Sony are licensing to whomever wants to show their films first run (The new X-Men oddly ended up screening in at the Regal, AMC, City Cinemas, and Cinema Village (!) down in the Union Square area).
Not likely to happen at the Chelsea. NYC is an extremely difficult city to get a liquor licence unless they can buy an existing permit.
You are right Optimist but it is only in the planning stage Here is the article: http://www.ctpost.com/business/article/Showcase-Cinemas-gets-permission-to-sell-alcohol-8341898.php
John Fink, please message me via : , also, thought that clearances have only been ended by a few studios. Glad to see Cinepolis coming to town and they are also opening in Stratford, CT.
Bow Tie seemed to be fully committed to this location as witnessed by the extensive renovations they had carried out. I wonder what changed their mind? I guess the “price was right” it’s also interesting to note that four of the five locations acquired by Cinepolis were former Clearview Cinemas. This now gives Cinepolis the entry point into the lucrative Northeastern marketplace. I wonder if they will try their Luxury Cinema Dining & Alcoholic Beverage/Bar concept at the Chelsea? Only time will tell.
The description from their website:
Located in the heart of Chelsea, Cinepolis Chelsea offers the latest films with offers state-of-the-art digital projection and sound. Cinepolis Chelsea is also home to “HEDDA PRESENTS THE CLASSICS” Film Series, weekly Rocky Horror Picture Show screenings and numerous film festivals, including the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival. The nine screen theater features reserved seating in a traditional environment and offers all your concessions favorites.
(Hedda wasn’t sure the series would continue, but it looks like it will…! Yay)
Cinepolis has some good photoshop skills to get those signs up over the theatres on their website.
Confirmed by the Cinepolis app – they also took over three in Jersey (Parsippany, Succasunna and Masnfield) and the Criterion Blue Back Square in West Hartford, CT. They also have a bunch of locations on the drawing board from TX to VA (and now with clearance being a non-issue they’re free to compete with anyone they choose to – which was a barrier to entry for many exhibitors looking to grow in the US).
Big surprise. Bowtie did a great job with the remodel and I would assume it is a profitable location. When I lived in NYC it was always my choice of theaters over the AMC and Regal locations.
But Robboehm, Bowtie is a stronger company
I think it’s Cinepolis, a Mexican exhibitor with eight US houses; details to follow…
Bow-tie has unloaded a lot of the theaters they acquired from Clearview.
Bow-tie has sold the theater; new owners take over July 1st, 2016.
I heard the name but can’t remember it; details to follow.
Facade looks far richer than when it was first built.
Exterior and lobby photos from July 2015.
theatrefan, Im with you on that.
markp, yes I got to see it at the Imax in Lincoln Square, the picture was nothing short of amazing. Besides the Ziegfeld & Lincoln Square the only other theatre in the city that had it in 70mm was the Cinema 1,2,3 on Third Avenue. I hope the people at the Loew’s Jersey get the 70mm set up and running one day, but they have more pressing matters to attend to. In the meantime I continue to seek out the special films I want to see in a theatre again, whether it’s a Traditional Film, DCP, DVD or Blu-Ray as long as you have an enjoyable experience and well done presentation by staff that cares it makes for a great time at the movies for the guests.
theatrefan, thats exactly what happened in January. When they booked the film they asked if we have 35MM capabilities and when management said yes, we got it. Loved making those changeovers, especially after seeing it in 70MM at the Ziegfeld. We have the same set up for digital with the dvd player, scaler, etc. It is what it is.
markp, your welcome! I think the director Chris Nolan insisted that Interstellar be issued on film, even though Paramount had said “Wolf of Wall Street” would be an all digital format title. At least some theatres here in NYC have 35mm capability for repertory showings and places like BAM & Alamo Drafthouse let you know if it’s a 35mm or DCP. Not sure what the Chelsea uses, but I did see them wheeling a player with a DVD of the film they were showing, they must also use a video scaler or such, since a 480i image projected would look pretty bad on a movie theatre screen.
theatrefan, I appreciate the compliment. Believe me I wish I was still doing that job. Even at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank NJ where I am the house projectionist, I run all digital. And the house stagehands set it all up. Thankfully when Im on a headset the lighting guy listens to me and tries to make it look classy. And I never close the dowser till everything reads zero. The last 35MM I ran was in January, “Interstellar.” Felt real good.
markp, we need more projectionists like you that are still around, dedicated to making sure the picture, sound and total presentation quality is as perfect as it can be for the guests attending film showings.
theatrefan, its very easy fix. Whoever is doing the set up in the booth is just placing the cue in the wrong place. Happens when you have people who have no clue about showmanship. In a way Im glad Im out of the business. I was a very proud projectionist for 38 years. I always did my best to make the show look good, even in the days of automation.