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Openings
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March 29, 2010
Great Escape Theatres to open new megaplex in South Carolina
SIMPSONVILLE, SC — Boasting fourteen screens, including an IMAX auditorium, the Great Escape 14 is scheduled to open at the end of April. The complex cost $14 million to construct and contains 2,200 seats.
When the Great Escape 14 movie theater opens in late April in Simpsonville, it plans to take full advantage of the latest technology changes. That’s why the fully digital theater will have four screens specially fitted to show movies in 3-D.
That’s not counting the four-story screen in the first and only digital IMAX theater in the Upstate.
“More and more movies are in 3-D and now they’re backing up on top of one another,” said David Poland, vice president of operations with Aliance Entertainment, the Indiana-based theater development company that built the $14 million, 14-screen theater in Simpsonville.
There is more detail in the Greenville News.
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March 24, 2010
CineMajestic will reopen La Porte, IN Cinemas
LA PORTE, IN — The four-screen La Porte Cinemas will be rechristened the New La Porte Cinemas when they reopen under CineMajestic management on April 1. New seats and new screens are being installed. The theater closed in October of 2009 and was last operated by Kerasotes.
“We need to get her open,” he said, noting that he wants to open the theater in time for local students to see films on their spring break. He said he also wants the theater to be open in time for the release of “Clash of the Titans,” featuring Sam Worthington, Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson and opening nationwide April 2.
CineMajestic is undergoing renovations that in the end will total more than $100,000. The aisle widths have been doubled from two feet to four feet, Caudle said, and the seat count for each screen has been decreased to 200. The management is currently giving away 1,000 seats which they removed, Caudle said.
There is more in the Herald Argus.
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March 23, 2010
New screens for Conway, AR and Wagner, SD
CONWAY, AR — Carmike Theaters plans to open a new twelve-screen multiplex in the fall as a replacement for the Carmike Cinema 6. That theater closed in February. The new multiplex will have one of the company’s Xtreme Digital screens. There are additional details here.
Meanwhile, in the small town of Wagner, SD, a new independent cinema seating 150 will open in July in a converted retail store. Here’s the story from the Announcer Online.
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March 22, 2010
Himalaya Palace Cinema (Closed Down) 2010
SOUTHHALL, MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND — The Himalaya Palace Cinema is up for sale. The front of this great cinema is all boarded up and a for sale sign is in place!
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March 21, 2010
Redondo Beach Cinema 3 closure
REDONDO BEACH, CA — While driving to the DMV from Redondo Beach, taking Hawthorne Blvd, I noticed that the theater marquee at the Redondo Beach Cinema 3 says “CLOSED”. This happened in the afternoon. While getting ready for bed, I discovered that the theater is going to be demolished to make room for a new shopping center. This will happen on the site of the: Former Thrifty, and CompUSA Computer Stores, Dirt lot where the bowling alley was until 2004/2005, and this theater. The bank will remain. The project will happen throughout 2010 and until Fall 2011.
Along with the Fairfax, this is another theater formerly operated by Regency Theatres that is no longer listed on their website. What does this say about their other theatrical interests in the L.A. area?
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March 17, 2010
Great Star Theater in San Francisco’s Chinatown to reopen
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Sometimes a spat with one’s significant other can lead to something quite unexpected. This what happened to George Kaskanlian Jr., who was walking off his anger when he came across a Chinatown movie house that had been closed for over a dozen years. One thing led to another, and the Great Star will be reopening as a film and concert venue.
Thus it was perfect as a venue for “Another Hole in the Head,” Kaskanlian’s enticingly named film festival that he runs as an offshoot of SF Indie Fest. Kaskanlian, 35, and business partner Ken Montero, 36, got a 10-year lease and it has taken the first year just to clean the place, which seats 540. Next, they are taking on the 1950s-era Christie projectors with Xenolite lamps.
“The goal is to revitalize it and to do local community Chinese events and bring in concerts and film festivals,” says Montero, who, like Kaskanlian, grew up in San Francisco but has no previous connection to Chinese culture.
Read the whole story at the San Francisco Chronicle.
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March 3, 2010
Putting the ‘Castle’ back in New Castle, Ind.
NEW CASTLE, IN — The City of New Castle along with Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana announced today that Dave and Wanda Battas, cinema operators from Indianapolis, have leased, will restore and plan to reopen the Castle Theatre in New Castle, Ind. The Battas family owns a concession supply company and are veteran operators and managers of several cinemas in Central Indiana.
Area residents were shocked and saddened last month when the theatre was closed with short notice. This left the county seat of Henry County without a cinema for the first time since movies came to the prairie in the early 1900s.
“I believe that every town should have a theatre,” said Dave Battas, who brings decades of theater operation experience to the Castle. “It is a part of our identity. We need to be entertained together in the same way that we see sports and other attractions. Getting together for wholesome entertainment is good stress relief for all ages in these challenging times. There’s nothing like hearing hundreds of people laugh at the same joke.”
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February 26, 2010
New Fabian 8 evokes memories of original Fabian
PATERSON, NJ — The name may sound the same, but the theater is brand new. The Fabian 8 has opened after some delay on February 19. This article recalls the original Fabian and contrasts what moviegoing experience was like in an earlier era with that most patrons expect now.
“We’re back with a tip of the hat to the past,” said John Halecki, general manager of Community Theaters LLC, pointing out what he calls the “Disneyland/Main Street feel” of the bright, blinking marquee at the theater’s front entrance and a clock that declares on its face “Movie Time.”
Hearing of the theater’s opening sparked a trip down memory lane for many residents, who fondly recalled the bustling movie houses of their youth.
Read more inThe Record.
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February 12, 2010
Concrete Theatre reopens
CONCRETE, WA — Today, the Concrete Theatre reopened after being dark for several years. Marilyn Monroe in “Some Like it Hot” (1959) was the first movie to play in the 87-year-old theatre since 2007.
New owners Valerie Stafford and Fred West refurbished the interior, moving all the seats to allow more leg room, installing curtains on the auditorium walls, adding new carpet and paint throughout and generally giving the venue a fresh look.
Please note that the official website is here.
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February 8, 2010
Everett’s Puget Park Drive-In shuttered
EVERETT, WA — When Everett’s Puget Park Drive-In closed for the season in September 2009, patrons had no idea that the triple bill “9,” “The Proposal” and “District 9” would be the final films to flicker on the 50'x 100' screen.
Owner Sterling Realty Organization has made an agreement with Swedish Health Services of Seattle to open a $30 million stand-alone emergency room on the drive-in property.
The three-story building is expected to be constructed near the spot where the theater’s red-and-blue snack bar now sits. Construction could begin as early as next month.
The drive-in was a throwback, and for many customers that was part of its charm.
More can be read in the Daily Herald.