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Openings
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September 7, 2010
Warner Theatre in Morgantown to Close
MORGANTOWN, WV — The Warner Theatre in Morgantown, WV has closed as of Sept. 5, 2010.
“The theater was actually opened June 12th 1931 and it cost $400,000. And originally built by the Warner Brothers, her in Morgantown. And the first show that was shown, I believe, was the Millionaire. And the lines were out the door and around the block. This was the center of activity in Morgantown, for a long time,” said Ron Davis, Warner Theater General Manager.
But keeping up an old theater is very costly.
Recently, the air conditioning system went out and this is what finally made the decision to close the doors, but faithful patrons are having trouble saying good bye.
Read more at WDTV.
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August 31, 2010
Construction begins on new theater in Royal Oak
ROYAL OAK, MI — After mentioning it last month with concerns about parking having been resolved, work on the construction of a new ten-screen multiplex in the Detroit suburb of Royal Oak got underway during the week of August 23. The facility, estimated to cost $14 million, will have, in addition to its cinemas, sixteen lanes of “boutique bowling,” a banquet room, and cocktail service. The new theater will be a part of the growing Emagine Entertainment company, which is also remodeling the former AMC Star Rochester to the tune of $4 million, and expects to reopen that theater by Thanksgiving.
“Downtown Royal Oak always changes; it always grows. What stays the same is that we are very popular — and that brings parking and traffic issues.
“But, ultimately most of us agree it’s a very good thing for the city,” Ellison said.
The full story is in the Detroit News.
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August 26, 2010
New theatre in Mid-Wilshire in LA!!!
LOS ANGELES, CA — CGV Cinemas in Los Angeles is the first American branch of the South Korean multiplex chain, CJ CGV.
Unique to CJ’s line of theaters, premium seating, 4D effects, rewards membership programs, and emphasis on customer value and care provide key differentiating factors that keep our patrons returning to CGV theaters. For the first cinema complex in the United States, CGV Cinemas in LA aims to reproduce these services by offering similar features specially designed to serve.
Tailored to suit the diverse and artistically rich tastes of Los Angelenos, CGV at Madang presents a global spectrum of films, featuring Hollywood hits as well as spotlighting the burgeoning market of Asian motion pictures. Focusing mostly on Korean and US, CGV’s projection lineup promises to include groundbreaking blockbusters and influential pieces made across the globe.
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August 20, 2010
New art cinema opening in Miami area
MIAMI, FL — The O Cinema is slated to open in Miami’s Wynwood Arts District by the end of the month. The 135-seat art theater and gallery space will add a new venue for independent and avant-garde film and video.
“We realized, both myself being a Miami native and Vivian having been raised here since she was 6, that film was one area where we haven’t stepped up to the plate,” Tabsch says. “We have Art Basel, which has been amazing for the visual arts community, and New World Symphony and the Arsht Center … all of these wonderful organizations each tackling different areas and doing amazing things. And film hadn’t caught up. We decided we had to do something about this and bring independent film to Miami year-round.”
They were able to do so thanks to a $400,000 matching grant from the Knight Arts Challenge, a godsend for many South Florida nonprofits in a time of distressing state budget slashes. After two years of fundraising and looking for a viable location, the duo settled on Wynwood, landing a 4,000-square-foot interior space and a courtyard.
There is more at Bocamag.com.
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August 17, 2010
New theater to open in Granite City
GRANITE CITY, IL — A new triplex is scheduled to open here on August 20. Owned by the city, the new 499-seat cinema will be operated by St. Louis Cinemas, which operates a number of theaters across the river. Granite City has been without a cinema since 2004. One screen is equipped for 3-D, and the theater incorporates some features from the demolished Washington Theater.
A ribbon-cutting and open house is set for 2:30-6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 18. It will include free popcorn and soda, and a chance to watch some older movies on the big screen.
The theater will open for business Friday, Aug. 20, with “Toy Story 3,” “The Other Guys,” and “The Expendables,” according to Granite City Economic Development Director Jon Ferry.
There is additional detail in the Suburban Journals.
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August 11, 2010
Cinemark opens new theater in Tulsa
TULSA, OK — The Cinemark Broken Arrow opened on August 6. Featuring twelve screens, six of which are 3-D capable, the theater is the chain’s second all-digital theater.
Each theater boasts stadium seating, and they range in size from 100 to 250 seats. That largest capacity theater is smaller than at Cinemark’s Tulsa location at 71st Street and U.S. 169, indicative of the “neighborhood theater” concept that Cinemark envisions for one of the state’s fastest-growing communities for decades.
“We discovered this area of Broken Arrow years ago, and we always knew it would be a perfect spot for a theater,” said James Meredith, vice president of marketing and communications for Cinemark, talking as he toured the crisp, clean multiplex with an undeniable new-movie- theater smell.
There is more at TulsaWorld.
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July 29, 2010
Movie on the screen, dinner on the plate, hubcaps at the bar
BROOKLYN, NY — Brooklyn is getting some more moviegoing options that provide more than just the movie.
Austin, Tex., has the Alamo Drafthouse. San Francisco has Foreign Cinema. Portland, Ore., has McMenamins. And Brooklyn has — well, Brooklyn has many places where you can bring a blanket and a picnic basket and watch a film in a park or on a rooftop, but few indoor options for dinner-and-a-movie year-round.
That will change on Friday, with the opening of reRun Gastropub Theater, a movie screen, bar and restaurant that is an expansion of reBar in Dumbo. The space, with 60 seats, some on low-slung couches, has a college town art-house feel and a sophisticated concession stand, serving things like pulled pork and popcorn topped with duck fat. The programming will focus on festival films that don’t have distribution, as well as cult favorites. (The opening lineup includes “Audrey the Trainwreck,” an off-kilter romance that played at South by Southwest this year, and a one-night-only showing of “The Prowler,” a 1981 B-movie.) A similar theater, indieScreen, is to open in Williamsburg in the fall.
Read more in the New York Times.
Also mentioned in the New York Post.
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July 28, 2010
Abandoned DC move-over house to reopen as new art-house this fall!
WASHINGTON, DC — I have recently leased the old Inner Circle 5, 6, 7 space in Washington, DC and will reopen it as the West End Cinema — a three-screen art-house movie theater — this fall.
The old Inner Circle was a move-over house opened in 1985 at 23rd and M Streets, as a sister venue to the Circle 1 -4, which was located a block south on 23rd (in a building that was torn down to build the Ritz Carlton residences). The 5, 6, 7, which I leased, is in a multi-use building and was never demolished — in fact, it still has the projector systems, platters, sound systems, screens, seats and concessions line exactly where they were when the theater closed in late 2003/early 2004.
I look forward to moving this theater from the “old” listings to the “new” listings on Cinema Treasures soon!
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July 27, 2010
Former Krikorian theater in Corona to reopen under new management
CORONA, CA — The Krikorian Dos Lagos 15 will reopened by the end of July by Knoxville, Tennesee-based Phoenix Big Cities theaters. The new operator plans to add additional 3D capability and other upgrades, and rename the theater as the Dos Lagos Stadium 15.
Karen Lane, vice president of marketing and advertising for Phoenix, said the theater is still being assessed, but plans include expanded concessions, digital projection and surround sound, online ticketing, and digital 3D.
Harrington said the site has a 3D theater now, but two or three more will be equipped, too. Plans also could include a bar and lounge in the lobby, he said.
The full story is in the Press Enterprise.
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July 19, 2010
Twelve-screen Century East opens in Sioux Falls
SIOUX FALLS, SD — Cinemark has opened the Century East in the Dawley Farms Village development on this city’s east side. The new 1,900 seat theater boasts twelve screens, six of which are 3D capable.
Generating excitement for Century East, the first theater on the city’s east side, hasn’t been much of a problem. Movie fans in the area are happy they won’t have to drive extra miles to the city’s other theaters on the west side. And businesses near Century East are counting on the theater to increase traffic and spending.
“Everybody by Iowa and Minnesota has been talking about the development,” said Marie LaRock of Hills, Minn.
There’s more in the Argus Leader.