It’s hard to imagine that any new exhibitor will take this one because it will require an extensive remodel and it’s attached to a dead mall. With a superior Emagine Canton just 10 miles away, this will sit empty, be demolished, or become something else.
I have a soft spot and odd fascination with movie theaters that are in poor condition. When this theater closed, it wasn’t the most ideal place for a movie. I remember the seating being extremely rigid, lots of Bollywood films in rotation and seeing a foreign film with only one other person in the audience (pre-Netflix era). You’ve got to hand it to theaters who take programming risks, as this theater played movies no one else was playing.
As of yesterday, this theater has been demolished. The landlord would not entertain offers to buy the property or to lease the space and has decided to build mixed use (condos/retail/offices) at the location. Despite attempts to save it via a non-profit group, the Royal Oak City Planning and City Commission approved its demolition.
This theater was purchased by Emagine Theaters on February 2, 2021. They will reopen it officially as an Emagine Theater on June 15, 2021, giving Emagine two theaters in downtown Birmingham, MI
The Cinemark 16 was the home of $1.50 shows for many years, as well as the location of many personal movie marathons. There was nothing like arriving on a weekend or weekday off and blasting through 3 (or 4 if you could time it correctly) movies in a single day in the early to mid-90’s. They did a good job of getting films three or four weeks just before the DVD or VHS release. Cinemark’s decision to build a brand new 16-screen dollar theater was a puzzling one at the time but the concept was profitable as Warren is a blue collar, metro town and it catered to the attitude of the city.
However, some believe the Cinemark 16 was the reason the Universal Mall became a bit of a less than desirable spot. It was common to see security in the lobby as there were car thefts, fights, theft and homeless dwellers who would frequent the facility. Budget theaters bring out a different crowd. People were always late to screenings, patrons were rude and would often talk through the entire course of the film, but that was part of the charm and experience of the dollar cinema. You don’t feel bad leaving if the movie is terrible or the audience is disruptive.
When the mall closed and was demolished, Cinemark built a new facade for the theater but nothing inside changed. Cinemark never made any effort to update the facility from the 90’s to 2016 aside from going digital when it finally became a part of the MJR Chain. It was dirty, dingy and the seats and projection were in tough shape in it’s final years.
MJR has completely transformed the entire lobby, but the theaters are very much in the same layout with cleaner, updated features.
This theatre was known as the AMC Maple 3 through the 80’s and 90’s. On April 24, 1998, it became known as the Maple Art Theatre after Landmark Theatres took over AMC’s lease. AMC was looking to rid themselves of smaller venues nationwide and move to and build bigger venues with more screens.
According to a Detroit Free Press article, this theater reopened as the Main Art Theatre on Oct. 15, 1993 and went through $950,000 renovation via a partnership between Mike Mihalich (who owns MJR Theatres) and Landmark Theatres.
It was a second-run house prior to that. Screen counts are 516, 390, and 200. A 37-ft screen is in auditorium 1, while 2 and 3 have 35-ft screens.
The three movies that premiered on Oct. 15 were “Like Water For Chocolate”, “Bad Behaviour”, and “Especially On Sunday”.
This is a great 3-screen theater tucked behind strip mall development. It specialized in art, foreign, and independent films for nearly two decades before being switching to “upscale” cinema (critically acclaimed mainstream hits with independent films).
It has been tastefully renovated multiple times in the past several years to include a small cafe, a coffee shop with a fireplace and now a grab-n-go fast casual food set up.
This neat little building has a large “4” on it’s side, indicating the past occupation of the Studio 4 arthouse. Inside the building, you can still see the theater’s beautifully curved auditorium as it now contains Roche Bobois, a high-end furniture store that caters to the wealthy residents of this Detroit suburb.
Had a few interesting experiences with this theater many years ago when it was still operating. Namely the cashiers who were annoyed at any customer who happened to walk though the door and the ticket tearer who would literally curl up in a ball and nap on a bench between films. Ahh, the stress of working at an empty arthouse on a Sunday afternoon.
In it’s final year (it closed May 31, 2001), this 8-screen was playing mainly arthouse and independent films with a few bigger releases thrown in. It was also in rough shape with bad seating and older projectors.
They were at the mercy of a Star Theater literally across the parking lot that would get all the major releases and often workers of the AMC Abbey 8 would pick up prints from that theater after they finished playing them (the irony here that the Star Theater became the AMC John R 15).
It was converted to a computer store (Micro Center) soon after.
It’s hard to imagine that any new exhibitor will take this one because it will require an extensive remodel and it’s attached to a dead mall. With a superior Emagine Canton just 10 miles away, this will sit empty, be demolished, or become something else.
I have a soft spot and odd fascination with movie theaters that are in poor condition. When this theater closed, it wasn’t the most ideal place for a movie. I remember the seating being extremely rigid, lots of Bollywood films in rotation and seeing a foreign film with only one other person in the audience (pre-Netflix era). You’ve got to hand it to theaters who take programming risks, as this theater played movies no one else was playing.
As of yesterday, this theater has been demolished. The landlord would not entertain offers to buy the property or to lease the space and has decided to build mixed use (condos/retail/offices) at the location. Despite attempts to save it via a non-profit group, the Royal Oak City Planning and City Commission approved its demolition.
This theater was purchased by Emagine Theaters on February 2, 2021. They will reopen it officially as an Emagine Theater on June 15, 2021, giving Emagine two theaters in downtown Birmingham, MI
The Cinemark 16 was the home of $1.50 shows for many years, as well as the location of many personal movie marathons. There was nothing like arriving on a weekend or weekday off and blasting through 3 (or 4 if you could time it correctly) movies in a single day in the early to mid-90’s. They did a good job of getting films three or four weeks just before the DVD or VHS release. Cinemark’s decision to build a brand new 16-screen dollar theater was a puzzling one at the time but the concept was profitable as Warren is a blue collar, metro town and it catered to the attitude of the city.
However, some believe the Cinemark 16 was the reason the Universal Mall became a bit of a less than desirable spot. It was common to see security in the lobby as there were car thefts, fights, theft and homeless dwellers who would frequent the facility. Budget theaters bring out a different crowd. People were always late to screenings, patrons were rude and would often talk through the entire course of the film, but that was part of the charm and experience of the dollar cinema. You don’t feel bad leaving if the movie is terrible or the audience is disruptive.
When the mall closed and was demolished, Cinemark built a new facade for the theater but nothing inside changed. Cinemark never made any effort to update the facility from the 90’s to 2016 aside from going digital when it finally became a part of the MJR Chain. It was dirty, dingy and the seats and projection were in tough shape in it’s final years.
MJR has completely transformed the entire lobby, but the theaters are very much in the same layout with cleaner, updated features.
R.I.P. Warren Cinemark 16.
This theatre was known as the AMC Maple 3 through the 80’s and 90’s. On April 24, 1998, it became known as the Maple Art Theatre after Landmark Theatres took over AMC’s lease. AMC was looking to rid themselves of smaller venues nationwide and move to and build bigger venues with more screens.
According to a Detroit Free Press article, this theater reopened as the Main Art Theatre on Oct. 15, 1993 and went through $950,000 renovation via a partnership between Mike Mihalich (who owns MJR Theatres) and Landmark Theatres.
It was a second-run house prior to that. Screen counts are 516, 390, and 200. A 37-ft screen is in auditorium 1, while 2 and 3 have 35-ft screens.
The three movies that premiered on Oct. 15 were “Like Water For Chocolate”, “Bad Behaviour”, and “Especially On Sunday”.
This is a great 3-screen theater tucked behind strip mall development. It specialized in art, foreign, and independent films for nearly two decades before being switching to “upscale” cinema (critically acclaimed mainstream hits with independent films).
It has been tastefully renovated multiple times in the past several years to include a small cafe, a coffee shop with a fireplace and now a grab-n-go fast casual food set up.
This neat little building has a large “4” on it’s side, indicating the past occupation of the Studio 4 arthouse. Inside the building, you can still see the theater’s beautifully curved auditorium as it now contains Roche Bobois, a high-end furniture store that caters to the wealthy residents of this Detroit suburb.
Had a few interesting experiences with this theater many years ago when it was still operating. Namely the cashiers who were annoyed at any customer who happened to walk though the door and the ticket tearer who would literally curl up in a ball and nap on a bench between films. Ahh, the stress of working at an empty arthouse on a Sunday afternoon.
In it’s final year (it closed May 31, 2001), this 8-screen was playing mainly arthouse and independent films with a few bigger releases thrown in. It was also in rough shape with bad seating and older projectors.
They were at the mercy of a Star Theater literally across the parking lot that would get all the major releases and often workers of the AMC Abbey 8 would pick up prints from that theater after they finished playing them (the irony here that the Star Theater became the AMC John R 15).
It was converted to a computer store (Micro Center) soon after.
This theatre has been demolished.