AMC Loews Paramus Route 4 Tenplex
260 E. Highway 4,
Paramus,
NJ
07652
260 E. Highway 4,
Paramus,
NJ
07652
24 people
favorited this theater
Showing 126 - 150 of 463 comments
In Burn After Reading, there is a prediction of things to come…a fitness center on busy Route 4 in Paramus, where it was really shot. It’s called Hardbodies, and in reality the Coen Brothers used the former Tower Records store on Route 17, not Route 4 as some people might think, as a stand in for the fitness center. The only gym in Paramus right now is a Gold’s Gym, and when the new fitness center, opens, it will give Gold’s a run for its money. However that might change in a tightening economy.
I’ll have to check out the Menlo Park 12 one too. There’s just nothing around here that has the same feel of the Tenplex, or the screen size of theater 1 there. I find myself going into NYC much more often these days to see movies, due to there still being a few classic theaters left there. I completely agree with Justin’s comment above that the Tenplex will be remembered long after it’s gone. It breaks my heart every time I pass by and see it all shuttered up with wood where the doors and front windows used to be. If only the town of Paramus would have stepped in to prevent it from becoming more retail space, or another gym as many have said it will become. I’m still furious that it was a done deal before anyone even knew it was officially closing. I had two separate independent theater owners who wanted to lease the property, but unfortunately, the same people who own the property the Tenplex resides on also own the former Bergen Mall site. They had already made their decision about what was going to replace the Tenplex and they didn’t have any interest in keeping it a movie theater. If it was a little older, I could have gotten it designated as a historical location, but it just misses the 50 year old cut-off. Why they couldn’t at least turn it into a local theater for plays and musicals, I don’t know. There are so many better uses for the property than a gym or another retail store. Well, I guess it’s just typical of the modern day NJ, where everything is replaceable, as long as it gets some local politician a kickback from a developer. Remember, the mayor of Paramus was dead set against a new theater at the mall, and the closing of the Tenplex. All of a sudden he flipflopped on the whole issue. I wonder what could have caused that?lol
Thanks for the tip on the Menlo Park 12, MikeP. I’ll have to check it out sometime.
“The Stanley Warner Route 4 Theatre showed lots of great movies in 70mm, and started as a single screen.”
And a HUGE single screen at that!
Of all the theatres I’ve been to since the tenplex closed Menlo had the closest feel (for me anyway), that’s pretty much all I was saying. The tenplex itself was and always will be my all-time favorite theatre. It accounted for probably 90% of moviegoing experience over the course of 30 years until it closed.
Except the AMC Loews Menlo Park 12 was always a “Cineplex Odeon” theatre, whereas the former AMC Loews Paramus Rout 4 10 Theatre started out as a “Stanley Warner” theatre.
The Stanley Warner Route 4 Theatre showed lots of great movies in 70mm, and started as a single screen.
The Cineplex Odeon/AMC Loews Menlo Park 12 Theatre is a 1990’s 12-plex that replaced another great theatre, the General Cinema Menlo Park Twin Theatre (opened as Cinema Menlo Park), which also show great 70mm films.
For anyone missing this thatre I recommend the Menlo Park 12 if you’re in the vicinity. It also used to be a cineplex Odeon and for the most part is still contructed like one.
Menlo link on this site: /theaters/14451/
when it will be demolished…btw, paramus has enough gyms around. This was Paramus' cinema version of Yankee Stadium, and like the new Yankee Stadium, the old Paramus theater will still be remembered more than the one attached to a big mall.
The place is an eyesore…should be demolished!
This theater was one of a few in America to show the original Star Wars and its sequels, which were rereleased so many times at this theater, and the prequels, of which Episode I was digitally shown (despite being shot on 35mm).
BTW, when is 24 Hr Fitness scheduled to open? There was an online petition to save the tenplex but sadly it’s now going to be transformed into more retail for Paramus, which is always changing but has very few open space. There are no signs of Native American life around Paramus, hence there were few back when the theater opened in the 60’s.
Awful! I could half live with it if it something fun that I could go to. A health club? One dimensional and not my cup of tea. On a side note even though I’ve “adjusted” to the GS 16, I still find myself missing the 10 plex. Even though I loved the 10 plex when it was around only now does it really shine how perfect it was for me. When I wanted to go see a movie, there was never a doubt I’d be going to the ten plex. Now I find myself deciding between THREE theatres (Clifton Commons, Lowes Wayne & the GS 16) depending on what I’m looking for.
24 Hour Fitness.
I recently heard that a huge health club is going to go up on this property.
Chris….the bulldozer was doing stuff in the surrounding property…however, that was a year ago and I haven’t been there since…I think we can write the place off…another treasure buried.
Rhett39, was the small bulldozer doing any work on the actual building or just the surrounding property? Every time I see the Tenplex I feel it could still be brought back to its former glory in a short period of time, though I’m sure it would cost a pretty penny. I’m sure it’s not that bad inside right now, as it’s been sealed off from the elements since it closed. I still find it hard to believe it’s been closed that long. I saw all the original Star Wars films there. Watching blockbusters in the newer factory style theaters is just not the same, exspecially since their screens are all so narrow compared to the wide ones at the Tenplex, and the stadium seating doesn’t help. People start feeling like they’re at home in that seating arrangement and talk, talk, talk. The old style makes you feel more like you’re actually out at a real theater, similar to a Broadway theater.
And one year ago today that it closed down. The night before it closed, it showed its last new movie, Pirates 3, before digital versions of the movie played on 2 screens at its successor. Had it been alive, it would be 43 years old. I guess it’s now all dust and bugs and mold that adorn this former Cinema Treasure.
I walked by there not too long ago, just for nostalgia. It’s boarded up but still intact although a small bulldozer was doing work. I miss that theater especially that it was 31 years ago today, May 25, 1977 that STAR WARS opened there.
from what i read on cinema retro, a lowes will be built where this theater stands.
my bad. the paramus picture show is also retail, not a concert hall. The Route 4 tenplex should become a performing arts/concert/meeting venue, although that title goes to the BergenPAC in Englewood. Maybe a hotel or motel would be nice, probably a Hilton.
before it gets quarantined or salvaged for more parking space, much the same way the tenplex’s sister theater had as well as the old drive-in. Or it could be used for more retail, much like the fate of the old theater inside the Bergen Mall, or perhaps an arts center, since the Paramus Picture Show is mostly now used for rock music and concerts. Was this theater the first theater in Paramus' history? At the time, Paramus had the strip mall cinema, the Route 4 theater, the one on 17, the one at the Bergen Mall, and the drive-in, making Paramus the movie-going destination in Bergen County at a time when attendance was bigger than it is today. Another town that should improve its shopping is Wayne, which desperately needs an improved movie theater.
All valid points, Chris, however, over my 33 years as a projectionist, there are many theatres I worked in that suffered the same fate. I wished I could have saved them too. But the sad truth is, in todays world, new is in, old is out. Look what happened in New York City over the years. And like you up in Paramus, down here in Woodbridge, do we really need anymore office buildings, or condo’s? It is sad, because these places they build to watch movies in today are nothing more than ‘sheetrock closets’. No charm, no nothing. As far as saving your tenplex, I think even if you won the mega-millions, you still would be out of luck. Chances are the decision has been made about this buildings fate, good or bad, and its only a matter of time…
Amen to that. I tried really hard last year to save this historic theater. I actually had two separate independent theater owners interested in leasing the property, which was never actually owned by Loews, AMC, etc… It’s owned by the same company that’s working on redoing the Bergen Mall. Supposedly, when the people I was working with called the company to express interest in keeping it a movie theater, they were told there were already plans in place to use the property for an extension of the new mall. The petition I had, actually still have online, along with the article in the paper, didn’t seem to have enough of an effect on the local citizens to get them to do something about it. You rarely see anyone over 18 going into the new theater at the mall, so I’m guessing most of the older Tenplex crowd is going elsewhere or watching cable. I called every local city, county, and state politician, and although they didn’t brush me off, they really didn’t do a damn thing about it, because there were no kickbacks to be had. It still breaks my heart to think that this great theater will someday be gone. NJ has a major issue with not giving a sh*t about historical buildings and it’s sad. Most other states I’ve visited pride themselves on keeping historical sites viable. Giants Stadium, the Meadowlands Arena, and the Bergen Mall are so easily thrown under the bus in the name of so-called progress. If the new theater at the mall is progress, than I’ll be happy to go back to the past. No matter how many politicians want to use the message of change, most change is usually for the worse, not the better. Rhett39, if you can think of anything I didn’t do to save the Tenplex, please let me know. I’d still do almost anything to save it.
I walked aroubd the theater a few days ago The exterior) I was in the area…it’s boarded up but still intact, there was a bulldozer picking up stuff at one end of the theater…wouldn’t it be grand if they saved the theater, made it an entertainment venue for shows, concerts and special premiere film screenings as well as some classic retrospective? It’d be a dam shame to just knock it down, they have the parking. I hear that they saved the Wellmont in Montclair and that it opens in the fall , as a concert hall etc. Maybe they’ll show an occasional movie. As for the Rt. 4- well, it’s good to dream. Any millionaires out there looking for a good buy? Go for it…
That’s a good thing, since the AMC right by me in Rockaway has a deal that lets you get a free hot dog at Nathans or cash off a burger at Fatburger. I believe the Fuddruckers in Bridgewater as well as those in Parsippany and Succasunna do these food offers when customers bring in tickets from theaters. BTW, when did Fuddruckers open…I believe it was during the late mid to late 90’s when the Tenplex was starting to show its age but survived into the 21st century.