Coronet Theatre
3575 Geary Boulevard,
San Francisco,
CA
94118
3575 Geary Boulevard,
San Francisco,
CA
94118
26 people
favorited this theater
Showing 76 - 100 of 142 comments
I agree that these buildings remaining unused is a shame, but at least they REMAIN! And in so doing, there’s always hope that somehow they may return to showing movies.
Well, The Coronet is still standing there, untouched since it ‘closed’. What was the point of closing it if no immediate action was going to be taken? The GIOA could have still been leasing it back to REG all this time. They could have been showing Episode 3 and War Of The Worlds all this time…
What a complete waste of the building, a complete waste of lossed rent $$ for the GIOA, and a waste for the City of SF.
And it makes me MAD AS HELL!
(The same can be said for The Alexandria, too!)
Saw Paper Moon here for the first time on June 24, 1973 and Aliens on July 18, 1986.
Saw Speilberg’s War Of The Worlds last night and couldn’t help think how awesome this film would have been at The Coronet with a pack house. Oh well…..
The Coronet was among the handful of theaters that was equipped with Cinema Digital Sound (CDS), the 1990-1991 precursor to the contemporary digital sound formats.
The Coronet was among the theatres included in the original limited-market launch of “Star Wars.” The Coronet’s 5/25/77 opening-day gross, according to Daily Variety, was a house record $16,462.
I have been in contact with Mr. Lucas' office, and he has chosen not to get involved at this time… Oh well.
I think that George Lucas, who openly stated that the Coronet was one of his favorite theatres, doesn’t step in to intervene. He’s got millions, and what a tax deduction! To save a theatre with his backing? I am very surprised, and dissapointed that he did not at least arrange his Star Wars screening there. With the Alexandra gone and now the Coronet, the Bridge is the last remaining open movie house on Geary Street. It is amazing that such a huge populace such as San Francisco, would not patronize such a wonderful theatre. In a city rich with culture and entertainment, this is a travesty.
I am one representative of 3 neighborhood associations surrounding the Coronet who are working very hard to try to save the Theater. Would some of you with historical information PLEASE contact me. We need your help. This plea is completely genuine. We have hired an attorney/mobilized our neighborhoods/and more.
PLEASE CONTACT ME. Email me @ , or call me at home 415.386.6432.
Libby Benedict
Mike, I think you’re right. The interstates chain installed Todd-AO projection in both of their Tower Theatres, in Dallas and Houston at some point in mid-‘56. The two uptown Uptown theatres I mentioned ran “South Pacific” roadshow in 70mm in '58. Sorry.
“ ‘Oklahoma’ also ran first-run 70mm roadshow at the Uptown Theatres' in Washington DC and Houston.” (veyoung)
Wasn’t the original Houston engagement of “Oklahoma!” at the Tower Theatre?
View link (scroll down to 22 June 1956)
Back to the Coronet…this theatre was among the initial batch of venues to install Dolby Digital for “Batman Returns” in June 1992. The intallation and industry-wide acceptance of digital sound, of course, being related to the demise of the 70mm format.
A major point in the Coronet’s long history is that it was in the forefront of those “neighborhood” theatres that beginning in the fifties began to showcase first run features bypassing the downtown houses. Magna Theatres had a hand in this when they booked the original Todd-AO roadshow engagement of “Oklahoma” here instead of at a downtown location. Magna and United Artists continued this trend with this Rodgers & Hammerstein production as well as the 2nd and 3rd Todd-AO films, “80 Days” and “South Pacific”. “Oklahoma” also ran first-run 70mm roadshow at the Uptown Theatres'in Washington DC and Houston. Both were located, appropriately enough, “uptown,” not downtown.
From a couple of posts earlier, I forgot to include “Around The World In Eighty Days” in the list of 70mm engagements that ran at the Coronet. It premiered Dec. 26, 1956 and ran for quite a long time.
Awesome list and Excellent 70MM link. I had almost forgotten how really special movie theater going use to be like pre-80’s.
The opening minute of Close Encounters at the Coronet, on the first Saturday nite showing, had the already frenzied sold out audience yelling with excitement as John Williams'music score built up to an orchestral opening crescendo, was PRICELESS. You had to be there.
70mm Presentations at the Coronet
Source: View link
Title (Premiere Date)
RSE = Reserved Seat Engagement
Oklahoma! (Feb. 16, 1956; RSE)
Sleeping Beauty (Feb. 11, 1959)
Porgy And Bess (July 22, 1959; RSE)
Ben-Hur (Dec. 23, 1959; RSE)
King Of Kings (Oct. 25, 1961; RSE)
Mutiny On The Bounty (Nov. 20, 1962; RSE)
55 Days At Peking (May 29, 1963; 70mm unconfirmed)
My Fair Lady (Oct. 29, 1964; RSE)
Hawaii (Oct. 19, 1966; RSE; 70mm unconfirmed)
Camelot (Nov. 1, 1967; RSE)
Funny Girl (Oct. 10, 1968; RSE; 70mm unconfirmed)
Star Wars* (May 25, 1977)
Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (Dec. 14, 1977)
Outland (May 22, 1981)
Quest For Fire (Mar. 5, 1982)
Blade Runner (June 25, 1982)
Return Of The Jedi (May 25, 1983)
Greystoke (Mar. 30, 1984)
Gremlins (June 8, 1984)
Amadeus (Sep. 19, 1984)
2010 (Dec. 7, 1984)
The Goonies (June 7, 1985)
SpaceCamp (June 6, 1986)
Aliens (July 18, 1986)
Little Shop Of Horrors (Dec. 19, 1986)
Lethal Weapon (Mar. 6, 1987)
The Witches Of Eastwick (June 12, 1987)
Die Hard (July 15, 1988)
Cocoon: The Return (Nov. 23, 1988)
Batman (June 23, 1989)
Glory (Jan. 12, 1990)
Gremlins 2 (June 15, 1990)
Die Hard 2 (July 4, 1990)
Edward Scissorhands (Dec. 14, 1990; 70mm-CDS)
Hook (Dec. 11, 1991)
Lethal Weapon 3 (May 15, 1992)
Cliffhanger (May 28, 1993)
True Lies (July 15, 1994)
*Highest box-office gross in the U.S. May 25 – Dec 13, 1977
Re-Issues/Move-Over/Second-Run/Return Engagements:
Oklahoma! (1962, 1966)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1970)
The Sound Of Music (1978)
Star Wars Triple Feature (One-Day-Only; Mar. 28, 1985)
Return Of The Jedi (1985)
“I also saw CLOSE ENCOUNTERS here in 70mm in October 1977”
“Close Encounters” opened at the Coronet on December 14, 1977.
Just wanted to add to brubec…..I’ve been going to the Grand Lake more and more to see the big screen movies (Aviator, Chicago, Lord of the Rings III, etc.) in the downstairs main theatre. Nice big screen and great accoustics and sound. It’s worth the trip to Oakland, easy freeway access, an easy ½ hour walk from the 19th St subway station, if you drive parking is fairly easy, especially on Sundays. Bargain prices at matinees are indeed bargains. Going to this theatre is fun!!
The Grand Lake is not chopped up into four screens.The main theatre has wonderful architecture and its theatre organ,and a second screen is in the former balcony with a large screen. Two additional screens were added next store in former retail spaces. The Grand Lake is the best movie palace to see first run films in the Bay Area and the Century 21 is the finest modern single screen theatre still showing first run fims in the Bay Area. The finest screen to see classic Hollywood movies is the Stanford Theatre in Palo Alto and Castro in San Francisco. The 3000 seat Paramount is the best restored former movie palace which shows classic films a few times a year on Friday Nights and the newly restored California theatre in San Jose.brucec
The Prsidio is now a 4-screener(original auditorium was chopped into 3 screens—Screen 4 was added in another space.) Grand Lake is also chopped into 4 screens. The best bet would be if it plays at the Orinda theater(a good possibility), whose main auditorium is still intact(the two other screens were added in an adjacent building) or at the Century 21 in San Jose(part of a complex, but the Century 21 itself is an undivided dome that seats over 1000). I would bet good money that Century 21 will play it.
Help!! Now that the Coronet is closed where does one go to see Star WarsIII?!! A multiplex seems too depressing! The “Grand Lake” in Oakland or is that been closed or divided too? Help, my husband is a big Star Wars fan.
For grandiose theaters, I would say the UA Metro on union and the Castro. There are a few other single house theaters, I hear that the presidio is back up and running by the 4 star folks. Red Vic and the clay but those are not big theaters and the vogue is pretty small in comparison to the Metro and Castro. I think Metro is the last that actually shows first run films.
What theaters are left in SF besides the Castro? (decent sized I mean).
The coronet theater closed on the 17th, the last show was at 7:00pm “Million Dollar Baby”. It was a sad day for one of the nicest single house theaters in the city. There aren’t too many left, enjoy the last of the few because they will all be gone someday too. The theater was bought by the institute for aging and will be used to house elderly people. Unfortunately UA lost the theater during their bankrupcy in 1999. Cest La Vie to a cinema treasure.
I called the theater at 3:30pm today. Someone picked up after 10 rings, answered the phone: “Coronet”. I asked him if they were still opened for business. He said, “No, we’re closed.” The End.
The Coronet is truly closed, and there are no listings in the paper.