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Openings
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November 30, 2010
Art house cinemas open at Florida Atlantic University
BOCA RATON, FL — Living Room Theaters has partnered with Florida Atlantic University and has opened a new quad cinema in the new Culture and Society Building on the FAU Boca Raton campus. The theaters are used for instructional purposes on weekdays, but function as traditional public art and independent cinemas on weekday evenings and for most of the day on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. The snack bar features typical and some atypical movie house offerings.
The 73,000-square-foot, $19 million complex has four screens of independent, foreign and classic films as well as a European-style café offering gourmet food, beer, wine and coffee. The building has 14 classrooms, conference rooms, offices and a three-story atrium.
While FAU’s film program is mostly housed at its Fort Lauderdale campus, students will take classes such as film critique and theory inside the theaters. They’ll also learn how to use digital film equipment.
There is more at the Sun Sentinel.com a picture here and more at the Living Room Theaters website.
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November 29, 2010
Showplace Cinemas opens in Henderson, KY
HENDERSON, KY — The opening of the eight-screen Showplace Cinemas here comes as welcome relief to this city which has not had an operating theater of any kind since 2005. The $5 million complex has high-back rocker seats, all-digital projection, and 3D capability.
“I can only say thank you,” Mayor Tom Davis said, reflecting on how many times he had been quoted about the need for a movie theater in Henderson.
“The youth of our community will get the benefit of this more than you can imagine,” whether they are movie-goers or are among the 30 employees who have been hired by Showplace, he said. “Thank you for your investment in Henderson and your faith in this community.”
There is more, including pictures, at The Gleaner.com.
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New theaters planned for four cities
In spite of a number of recent articles predicting doom for movie theaters (such as this one) due to the plans of some studios to add more direct-to-viewer options, there have been several announcements of the construction of new theaters.
WESTLAND, MI — MJR Digital Theaters has announced that it will open a sixteen-screen megaplex in the Detroit suburb of Westland, to open in late October or early November of 2011, according to the Detroit Free Press.
WILMINGTON, DE — Penn Cinemas plans to build a $25 million dollar theater on a parcel of riverfront land here that it will acquire from a state agency. The new theater will have fourteen screens and an IMAX auditorium. The story is at Delaware Online.
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November 24, 2010
Former Regal Rivergate reopens as The Edge 14
MACON, GA — Naos Entertainment of Greenville, AL will be reopening the former Regal Rivergate 14 here as its third cinema operation, now called the Edge 14. New seating has been installed in the eight auditorium that will initially open on November 24; the other six are being converted to stadium seating. There will be no boxoffice; tickets will be purchased at the concession stations.
Within days, Naos Entertainment, a fledgling, small-town outfit based 40 miles southwest of Montgomery in Greenville, Ala., stepped in and went to work remodeling what would be its third theater venture.
“It’s gonna be close, but we’ve got final inspections happening Monday and Tuesday and we have pictures booked and people hired and we’re gonna be there selling tickets on Wednesday,” Felts said by phone Thursday. “The auditoriums, they’re pretty much ready. When you see those new seats … they look real, real good.”
The full story is at Macon.com.
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AMC to shutter historic Uptown Cinemas in Seattle
SEATTLE, WA — AMC will close another theater claiming that its continued operation is not economically viable, only this time it is the eighty-four-year-old Uptown on Seattle’s Queen Anne Avenue. Most recently operated as a triplex, the theater opened in 1926. The last day will be November 28.
The brief announcement is at King5.com.
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November 23, 2010
Nine-screen theater opens near Cincinnati in Sycamore Township
SYCAMORE TWP, OH — Theater Management Corporation opened its third cinema on November 19. The Kenwood Theatre at Kenwood Place now occupies space formerly used by two furniture stores; it has nine screens, digital projection and one 3D capable screen. The theaters occupy two levels of the converted structure. The refreshment menu includes sushi, gourmet cookies, beer wine, and cocktails, as well as more conventional fare.
Theater Management had spent years looking for a site near the mall, managing principal Gary Goldman said earlier this year. The need for a theater in the area became particularly clear when the mall’s Showcase Cinemas closed in May 2009.
“The trend has been in both Clifton and Mariemont that a great deal of our customers frequent the restaurants and shops in the area,” said Goldman, who manages and is an investor in all three theaters. “We needed to be in an area where there were options like that.”
There is more at Cincinnati.com.
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November 22, 2010
AMC reopens the Essex Green in West Orange as Fork & Screen location; others coming soon
WEST ORANGE, NJ — The AMC Essex Green reopened on November 17 as the fourth of AMC’s Fork & Screen locations. The remodeled theater now features four screening rooms billed as Cinema Suites with upscale dining and cocktail service, and five others for more casual dining, and the MacGuffins bar and lounge.
AMC plans to open two more Fork and Screen operations in New Jersey, the AMC Bridgewater Commons 7 in Bridgewater on Nov. 22 and the AMC Menlo Park 12 in Edison on Dec. 15.
The AMC Grapevine Mills 30 in Grapevine, Texas will also be and Fork & Screen location as of Dec. 8. There is more in the Sun Herald.
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November 17, 2010
First drive-in in Ireland opening near Cork
CORK, REPUBLIC OF IRELAND — Reportedly the first permanent drive-in ever in Ireland, the Movie Junction in County Cork is set to open soon. The facility has space for 170 cars and will have FM radio sound. The cost of entry is said to be the equivalent of $21 per carload.
Ireland is set to get its first permanent drive-in movie theater in Co. Cork. Movie Junction, which is the brainchild of two Cork businessmen, is due to open a 170-car facility in the coming weeks just in time for the screening the latest Harry Potter movie, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1”.
Promoters John Caulfield and Stephen Redmond, originally came up with the idea five years ago after they attended a drive in movie at the Cork showground, which was part of the Cork film festival.
The full story is at Irish Central.
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November 16, 2010
Grand Theatre opens at Fort Bliss
FORT BLISS, TX — The first megaplex on a U.S. military installation has opened as part of a new shopping mall on the Fort Bliss army base called Freedom Crossing. As earlier reported, the Grand Theatre, operated by Southern Theaters, features ten screens, stadium seating, and all digital projection. Civilians may attend the Grand Theatre if they enter the base at one of two designated gates and provide government-issued identification.
There are stories about the new mall and the theater’s opening at KFOX and in the El Paso Times
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November 5, 2010
Ocala Drive-in to reopen
OCALA, FL — Closed for over three years and in need of much work, nonetheless the Ocala Drive-in is going to reopen in late December. Brothers John and Charles Watzke have leased the theater from its Illinois owner; they and their new manager, Jeff Beenblossom, are working to get the property in shape. It will have both traditional speaker poles and FM sound.
The new theater will have about 150 parking spaces with speakers and another 400 that will be able to pick up the audio portion of movies through FM radio signals.
The three men plan to repaint the screen, rewire the speakers and restore the concession stand.
There is more at Ocala.com.
