Middletown Theatre
2105 Route 35 & Palmer Avenue,
Middletown,
NJ
07748
2105 Route 35 & Palmer Avenue,
Middletown,
NJ
07748
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The horror movie Night of the cREEPS PLAYED HERE IN AUGUST OF 1986…
The original name of this theatre, now demolished, was the Towne and opened in July 1965 under the Walter Reade Theatre banner. It became, under Music Makers, Town East and West and then gave birth to multiple screens over the years. As National Amusements, Sumner Redstone, replaced the Rte 35 Drive-In with the Hazlet Multiplex Cinemas in August 1992, the decision was made to have the property used for other commercial ventures.
This cinema dates back to the 1960s when it was a single screen and called the Town Theatre. I remember THE ODD COUPLE playing there, with images of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau attached to the marquee!! They used to put sandwich signs with yellow backgrounds and black lettering along route 35 advertising the movies that were playing there.
A second auditorium was added in the 1970s which was later cut in two. There were another four auditoriums added during an extensive remodelling sometime in the 1980s, bringing the total up to 7. Fortunately the main auditorium was left intact during all of the renovations and changes. I believe Ectojedi is correct in that it closed in 1997.
Listed as a 7 screen in the 1991 International Motion Picture Almanac.
You’re right about the name. However the close date is subject to debate. The UA sold the theatre to Cinemagic Theatres which kept it open a while longer as a discount theatre. I still have the ticket stubs for “Austin Powers,” “Mimic,” and “Chasing Amy” which all came out in 1997 and were shown there. The admission price was $2.83 and it included a small free popcorn. Talk about a deal.
The last couple of movies to show there that I found via an online newspaper search were on December 13, 1997 – Men in Black, Seven Years In Tibet, Gattaca, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Fairy Tale: A True Story, In & Out, Kiss the Girls, Red Corner, Full Monty, Bean, & Starship Troopers. The theatre was knocked down shortly after that. I have a small piece of the rubble.
Original name was UA Movies at Middletown. I think it was six screens and closed long before ‘97.