Regal Cinema 6
1705 Montgomery Drive,
Wilson,
NC
27893
1705 Montgomery Drive,
Wilson,
NC
27893
1 person
favorited this theater
The Litchfield Theatres 6 opened in Wilson around 1990, a few years after they sold their Goldsboro four-screen theater to United Artists. The Litchfield 6 had more screens than its two Carmike competitors (Parkwood Triple and Gold Park Twin) combined.
The Litchfield 6 was sold to Regal Cinemas in the late-1990’s, when it was renamed Regal Cinema 6. The Litchfield/Regal 6 was successful enough to drive both Carmike theaters out of Wilson by 2003. The Regal Cinema 6 was itself run out of Wilson by a new Carmike ten-screen theatre at Wilson Mall (formerly Parkwood Mall) by 2007.
Contributed by
NightHawk1
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Recent comments (view all 7 comments)
Unfortunately, due to a deed stipulation, the building can never again be used as a movie theater.
A shame really. I saw my first film at a cinema in this building back in the 80s and worked there from 2002-2004 (my first job outside of under the table gigs). This is where my love for film was born.
Much like the Gold Park Triple, the building was converted into a church.
Looks like Regal stole some of Carmike’s dirty tricks; Carmike put deed restrictions in most of the theater buildings they abandoned in Eastern North Carolina (Neuse Blvd. Cinema 3 in New Bern and the Roanoke Rapids Cinema 1&2 being the only exceptions).
I think it was at the behest of Carmike. According to a newspaper article in The Wilson Times (then The Wilson Daily Times) a member of Carmike Corporate said a “Gentleman’s agreement was met” in reference to Regal’s closing in 2006 (Less than three months after Carmike 10’s opening).
It was a bit irritating to find this out because I considered leasing the building to show second run films.
Sounds like illegal collusion between two “competitors”. Regal now owns the Greenville Grande 14, which I thought would lay waste to Carmike’s old and oddly configured 12-screen theater in Greenville (still only FOUR stadium seating auditoriums!). The Regal 6 was a nice theater; it would have made a teriffic discount house. Maybe Carmike is suppressing all attempts to open discount cinemas east of Raleigh (Smithfield’s Howell excepted)?
That’s my thinking. I mean, if you can snatch up the rural market and control it, it makes sense to ensure you’re on top all the time. It’s dirty, unfair business at its finest.
Also, how in the world isn’t Carmike 12 not closed? It’s in desperate need of a major cosmetic overhaul and smells disgusting…come to think of it, every Carmike built in the 80s and 90s that I’ve visited have smelled horrendously bad (especially the bathrooms).
What kept the Greenville Carmike 12 afloat for the first few years of Greenville Grande’s existence was the widening of Fire Tower Road (the street Carmike 12 is on, but only the portion west of the theater was affected). Back to the Wilson Regal 6: I saw only one film here, the first “Spider-Man” starring Tobey Maguire. At that point the Regal 6 was still in excellent shape and run properly; the old Parkwood Triple could not compete and was probably closed by this time. Regal probably abandoned Wilson because they (Regal) generally don’t build theaters in North Carolina; they buy them instead.Stonecrest 22 in Charlotte and Oak Hollow Mall Cinemas in High Point are the only current Regal houses in NC that I know of that were built BY Regal. All other Regal Cinemas in NC came from four chains: Litchfield (including Wilson’s sixplex), Consolidated (including Greenville Grande and most of Regal’s stadium theaters in NC), Eastern Federal (including North Hills and Brier Creek in Raleigh), and United Artists (including the now-demolished UA/Litchfield 4 in Goldsboro and College Road 6 in Wilmington).
Parkwood Triple closed in late 2003/early 2004