Cineplex Odeon Route 17 Triplex
85 South Route 17,
Paramus,
NJ
07652
85 South Route 17,
Paramus,
NJ
07652
16 people
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It didn’t play here in 70mm. Only in NYC, the ziegfield theater where it opened. It’s been ten years since the theater was demolished and became more parking. The first transformers movie, which was the 1986 cartoon, played here. If you count all the screens in paramus back then, that would be 16 screens.
moviebuff82… What is your source that “Pink Floyd: The Wall” played here in 70mm?
It’s just a jump to the left….(to sidestep a question)
HD, I did see several 70mm films there and there was really no difference that I saw between 35mm and 70mm. The size of the screen remained the same for each, so no gain in screen size at all.
Nope but my dad did. Fiddler on the Roof was the first movie to be shown in 70mm here. Dick Tracy was the last movie to play in this format here in 1990.
This was the place to go to if you wanted to see 1982 hits such as Rocky III and The Wall in 70mm dolby stereo.
more than 10 years ago this theater closed down and was demolished by the time the AMC at GSP opened. What a shame, since I always went to its sister theater more often than this place. It wasn’t better kept like the tenplex and sometimes had carry over movies from Route 4 as well as new movies that played at this theater that weren’t as popular as the Tenplex. Had AMC kept this place open it would’ve been a perfect venue for IMAX, AMC Prime, et al.
Fizz1, The Boxoffice article link that Tinseltoes provided for this theatre is from 1966, not the late 50’s. The Plaza opened in 1957. there is also a picture on this page of the opening ad from 1965.
When the theater was demolished they repaved that spot for cars. BTW, Spies like Us was from 1985 not the 1970s, Fizz1.
This theater was built in the late 50s, along with the Garden State Plaza, as a single screen theater, with a balcony. I believe it was divided into a twin sometime during the 60s, and the balcony was closed. It became a triple in the late 70s when a screen was added to the balcony.
I grew up in Rochelle Park in the 70s, less than a mile from this theater. During the summer I would ride my bike to the theater to see the matinee, which cost $1. Movies that I remember seeing here were Sleeper, Papillon, Spies Like Us and lots of other classic mid-70s movies.
During the 70s the theater was kept clean and in good repair, but it started to go downhill in the 80s. The last time I was there, late 90’s, the place was very dingy, run down, and the parking lot was more potholes than paving.
BTW, Hanna Krause Candy is still open for business in the same location.
For a few years it was a New Year’s Eve tradition for my family to go to the Century Paramus. On that evening the theater would show the regular feature and then follow it with a sneak preview. The only movie I remember from that tradition was “The Great Race.” Occasionally my friends & I would be dropped off at a matinee there as well. I think we saw a Bond movie or two there (with Sean Connery, of course), & I definitely recall seeing “The Glass Bottom Boat.”
This theatre opened as Century’s Paramus Theatre. That should be added to the aka/previous names list.
Imagine if they auctioned off the famous Century signage on the building on Ebay….that would cost a lot of money. Instead, they demolished the theater inside and out. It became an eyesore for commuters on Route 17 heading towards the GSP before its untimely demise. What sound systems did this theater use pre and post multiplexing?
Larry is absolutely right. The 2 bottom theatres would stink of dampness & mildew after a rain. Many of the auditorium lights were blown out, leaving it to feel truly like a big, dark cave. The outside metalwork was largely left to rust. My main gripe with this place was the seats were all positioned to have patrons facing the center of the screen, which was fine when it was one screen. As soon as the wall went up the seats remained the same, leaving you to twist yourself into uncomfortable positions to watch the film. The upper balcony was the best of all 3 screens, as it was mostly left untouched and you got a sense of how big the place originally was.
Worth noting is the theatre closed with the RKO Century name. Cineplex Odeon had never put their logo/name on the place. I suspect this was due to the fact the theatre had been considered in renderings of the plaza circa it’s 1996 expansion. I had first come here in the 1990’s. I believe Cineplex also had run a theatre at the then Bergen Mall in the late 80’s/very early 90’s. There was also a drive in next to the GSP (which is now a parking lot off Route 4 – on the far right near Nordstrom).
The place became so run down in it’s later years that it was amazing that it remained open for so long. A very shoddy theater before being closed.
Yes. It was a big white brick structure with the entrance facing Rt. 17. It was a stone’s throw away from the candy maker you mentioned.
Was this the theater that was right next to the chocolate maker on rt 17 by the mall?
I agree CConnoly1. They should’ve kept the theater open and converted all three screens into a giant IMAX screen theater. Too bad its successor has a smaller IMAX screen.
It amazes me that as late as December 1972, these kinds of reserved seat bookings were still going on. With the lack of theaters and the crowds that go to them (especially for an opening weekend for an “anticipated” film) you’d think they’d start this kind of thing up again. Why not? 3D is back…
what movie had the longest run at this theater?
next year marks 5 years since the theater was closed and nearly 5 years since the theater was demolished. I never been to this theater compared with the tenplex. This was the second theater to open near the plaza, as the first one was a drive-in theater that was Paramus' only drive-in.
There’s an article in today’s Record that incorrectly states this theater as an example of abandoned real estate, since it wasn’t abandoned but demolished.
yup. It didn’t take 55 years to build it, that’s just slang for the company’s founding in 1910. BTW, what was Century Theaters and how did it get its name? When that theater opened, was it the same size as what used to be a one-screener on Route 4? The garden state theater is much bigger than both combined!!!
Hmmm, it took 55 years to build it, one week to tear it down, and four weeks to cart it away. That must have been one lazy construction crew for sure! :)
If you’re nostalgic for the Century … here’s an ad from July 1965 announcing the theatre’s opening.
View link
Notice what it says on the map at the bottom. That’s exactly what the Century’s site has now become: Ample Free Parking, Always!