Movie City 5

US Route 1 and Gill Lane,
Woodbridge, NJ 07095

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The Grant Movie City 5 was located in the rear of the old S.Kleins on the Square (Toys R Us) building located on US Route 1 and Gill Lane in Woodbridge, NJ across from the Woodbridge Center mall.

Originally opened as a first run house on January 16, 1981, by the 1990’s it became a discount second-run house. Towards the end of its day’s, to capitalize on the growing South Asian community in the area, the theater began showing Bollywood films in additional to its regular fare. The theater closed sometime in 2003.

Contributed by Jack Stachowicz

Recent comments (view all 17 comments)

voluntaryexiledtowoodbridge
voluntaryexiledtowoodbridge on September 1, 2008 at 7:50 am

I also worked at Movie City, both in East Brunswick and later Woodbridge. I started in 1982 in EB as an usher, later promoted to projectionist. Due to several personal circumstances at the time (teenage drama mostly) I requested a move to Woodbridge where I worked till resigning (a now famous incident still discussed by a group of us) in the summer of 1985.

Although the place sucked, the friendships formed there have lasted a lifetime. I’m even more fortunate than most, as having worked in both theatres, I have a group of friends from each.

shany94
shany94 on September 29, 2009 at 9:24 pm

I remember this place – it wasn’t the cleanest or most modern, but it was cheap and accessible. I think the last film I saw here was “Sleepy Hollow”, I also recall seeing “The Shadow” and “The Phantom” at Movie City

joker
joker on June 8, 2010 at 11:58 am

i remember this theater it was a big theater i went there when i was a kid.

pernicev
pernicev on February 25, 2011 at 11:35 am

I too worked part time at Movie City 5 as a teenager in 1986. I was an OK job at the time. I got to see a lot of movies as an usher, but we were forbidden to sit down.
From what I recall the general manager was a rather cut-throat businessman and was the main reason my employment only last a few short months.

unclejay73
unclejay73 on April 13, 2012 at 6:32 am

I started going to Movie City 5 in the summer of 1987. I was 14 years old. It was a first-run theater then, and the first film I saw there was “RoboCop”. I also saw “Jaws: The Revenge” and “Stakeout” that summer as well there. I didn’t particularly care for the theater, the theaters were a bit small, and there was one theater that was always a bit out of focus (and was the theater I always wound up in, go figure). I do remember going back there in January ‘89 for “Deep Star Six” as it was the only theater near me playing that film, and I believe it became a cheap second-run theater not long after that, I went a few more times, particularly in '97 when I caught “The Fifth Element”, “Chasing Amy”, “Con Air”…I think it was $2.50 a ticket.

Paul
Paul on October 11, 2016 at 3:42 pm

I grew up in Iselin and saw many movies here. For some reason, I distinctly remember watching “Back to the Future Part III” here in 1990. I was familiar with its history, first becoming a second-run theater, then exclusively showing Bollywood or other South Asian films, but I didn’t know it had closed.

I also always found it odd that the entrance was in the back of the building and virtually unseen from Route 1. I remember there always being a crowd, so I guess it didn’t hurt business too much throughout the years.

Anyway, thanks for posting this, and for the memories.

rivest266
rivest266 on October 23, 2016 at 11:20 am

This opened on January 16th, 1981. I uploaded its grand opening ad in the photo section.

The_Batman_Professor
The_Batman_Professor on June 20, 2017 at 12:17 am

Saw a lot of limited distribution horror films at this one, including DAY OF THE DEAD (first film I saw here,) and EVIL DEAD 2. My most vivid non-genre memory of MC5 was seeing GOOD MORNING, VIET NAM in a sold out screening, with a column directly in front of my seat, obscuring half of the screen.

rivest266
rivest266 on August 28, 2017 at 5:24 am

There was 3 Movie City locations, Woodbridge and East Brunswick, NJ and the Movie City 10 in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Guodone
Guodone on September 25, 2020 at 6:37 am

My wife and I lived at an apartment complex nearby in the early 1980’s and went to these theaters a few times. The price was cheap but the screens weren’t very large. I preferred going to Menlo Park or the Woodbridge theaters for the first run movies we wanted to see even though the price was more. We would go here for the movies that were not on our ‘must see’ list.

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