It took WAY too long to get this theater built. The development was announced in 2018 but ground did not break until early 2020 and the building was not complete until summer 2020. However due to constant delays from the Covid-19, the theater did not officially open until February of 2021. None of this includes all of the false starts and failed proposals of the idea of a multiplex in the area throughout the last two decades.
Looks like something is finally happening to the site.
https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/local/middlesex-county/2022/10/03/sayreville-nj-amboy-cinemas-redevelopment/69524885007/#l8st3y4ogmhnu4fxsiv
@m00se1111 In 2017 a documentary was made called Doomed! The Untold Story of Roger Corman’s Fantastic Four which features most of the cast and crew from the film including Roger Corman himself and in it they mention it great detail on how they were trying to organize it although Corman said plainly that those who were planning didn’t realize who owned the copyright for the film. The cast actually spent months prior doing a promotional campaign for the film on their own dime. Mind you this was a very low budget movie.
The never released 1994 Fantastic Four movie which was produced by Roger Corman was supposed to premiere there, but it was canceled due to Marvel and 20th Century Fox preventing the release of the movie.
I guessing these were taking in spring 1984, mainly cause of the hair style and from what I can tell the movie title on the marque says “Up the Creek” which was a movie that came out that year.
Hey just saw a new video of the theater and actually shows a way into the building, unfortunately this also means that more unscrupulous people have found their way in and have added graffiti and possible further damage to the structure which is very disappointing, though not these guys in the videos. These two photographers did manage to do one thing that to my knowledge others have not and that it finding their way to the roof! I highly recommend you all check this video out!
https://youtu.be/SD4F8tLIlQ8
markp Excellent ! And September would be fine, I myself am currently working on some other things at the moment so I would love to do it then. Just drop me an email so we can further discuss it. Mine is . I look forward to hearing from you directly ! 🙂
Well markp I myself have a YouTube channel and I would be more than happy to discuss or even interview you over zoom about your past experiences as a projectionist most specifically about your experiences and stories surrounding the Amboy Cinema but after you telling me about the fact that you ran other types of movie theaters as well it has me even more interested especially with recent events and the fact that the movie theater industry was under its most recent hardship. Please let me know if you’re interested in this offer.
markp have you ever considered doing a YouTube series on your various experiences as a projectionist in multiple cinemas over the years ? I would to hear more of your stories in greater detail especially with aforementioned Amboy Cinema.
Thank you markp for that input. I did not know that the cinema had that many seats and I personally find it quite amazing that you remember all that after all these years. However I don’t understand why they let this building sit, wasting money in property tax. The building is filled with Incredible mold and mildew all over except for maybe in certain places of the projection room and if the ceiling wasn’t sinking then, it’s definitely sinking now as seen from the videos of people exploring the building so the idea of building ever being repurposed is just out of the question. National amusements should just let the building go and give the property back to the city of Sayreville so that they can actually use the land for something else. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a sucker for abandoned places and urban exploring and I have been fascinated with this building since I was 8 years old and it has a lot of memories for my family who did go to the theater. But given all the information that has been presented with videos and photographs, it’s clear that any future for the Amboy building is as fictional as some of the motion pictures that used to show.
So essentially the theater was expanded to death, it went from a 6 screen to an 8 screen to a 10 screen to a 12 screen and finally to a 14 Screen Cinema, all within the span of six years. That kind of expansion that quick in my opinion can cause unnecessary stress to the already existing infrastructure within the building. Even though it wouldn’t happen until 2005, I feel that the building just couldn’t handle the extra load need to take in which is what caused the ceiling to initially sink. Since then as seen from the photos and videos of people exploring the building, the infrastructure has gotten worse and worse and eventually we’ll probably just collapse in on itself completely. So from what ridethectrain has said, I would say Amboy Cinemas expanded too much, too fast, too soon and 18 years of that stress on the building, finally gave out. I’m now convinced had they not have expanded so much or not as fast as they did, maybe Amboy Cinemas would still be open today.
A new video has been posted. Basically from the same venture to the building as the previous, however this was recorded and edited by the previous posters partner as they were both filming simultaneously. Same things that I said before apply for this as well.
https://youtu.be/dVOD4Zd3kPc
To add on to what markp has been saying on this forum for many years now, the building has actually gotten worse since AmboyUrbanEx first got into the building back in 2016. The water damage has become even more extensive and many of the theaters have become completely dilapidated, one of which has a ceiling that is in so much disrepair that the roof has even caved in revealing some sunlight. All of this can be seen in the video that I shared in my previous comment. So in short it is safe to say that unfortunately the building can never be repurposed ever again and the only other option is to demolish the structure. My only hope is that National Amusements can come into the building prior to demolition to retrieve anything in the building that could be salvageable that being old movie theater Marquis security footage old tapes which are in the upstairs office area, just for the sake of preservation and history so we can at least see what the theater used to look like in its heyday.
Hello everyone ! I am happy to say that someone has actually gained acces into the defunct cinema and has filmed the inside of it using a high quality 4K camera here is the link to the video.
https://youtu.be/HhuHW-bBTbM
Now the man who film this censored the sign as well as any Marquis that would have indicated it as the Amboy Cinema in order to keep himself safe. So I strongly urge you all to not Badger this man and try to ask him how he got inside the building. We should all be grateful that he has this footage at all. The reason I know that this is Amboy is because of the fact that everything matches up to the photographs and the end of the video shows the exterior matching the location of Amboy. He also mentioned in the video that the reason he censored the name of the cinema was to keep people from going in the theater to vandalize it so it’s most likely that the entrance way where he was able to enter the building is still there and still open but as AmboyUrbanEx said himself several years ago it’s very dangerous so be mindful of the risks.
Side note to others, I understand that everyone can see my message and so I would like to point that this is for the user amboyurbex only. For those who claim to be this person and turn out not to be, please don’t pretend to be someone you are not and take credit for someone else’s work. For me this is a small passion project for me, I don’t have time for trolls.
Excuse me amboyurbex, but I was wondering if I could interview you about your experience while documenting Amboy Cinemas building for my YouTube channel. I understand that you would like to keep your identity a secret which is why I would like this interview to be strictly audio only, using your photos as visuals. I will even loop your voice if you would like ? If you are interested please contact me via Facebook messenger.
P.S. I was the one who shared your photos on Facebook, I’m sorry for that.
You can still see some light seeping through the seems of the plywood on the windows, its actually kind of creepy but awesome at the same time, one thing we do know is that these were taken during the day, not at night though to be fair I don’t really blame this person to be honest. It probably would’ve been more problematic to get in here at night, let alone all by themselves. Who ever you are and where ever you are amboyurex, thank you and god bless you we all know it might not have been easy being in this theatre all alone, but the fact that you did it just shows that you are a true artist !
Correction: Fall 1996
It took WAY too long to get this theater built. The development was announced in 2018 but ground did not break until early 2020 and the building was not complete until summer 2020. However due to constant delays from the Covid-19, the theater did not officially open until February of 2021. None of this includes all of the false starts and failed proposals of the idea of a multiplex in the area throughout the last two decades.
Looks like something is finally happening to the site. https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/local/middlesex-county/2022/10/03/sayreville-nj-amboy-cinemas-redevelopment/69524885007/#l8st3y4ogmhnu4fxsiv
@m00se1111 In 2017 a documentary was made called Doomed! The Untold Story of Roger Corman’s Fantastic Four which features most of the cast and crew from the film including Roger Corman himself and in it they mention it great detail on how they were trying to organize it although Corman said plainly that those who were planning didn’t realize who owned the copyright for the film. The cast actually spent months prior doing a promotional campaign for the film on their own dime. Mind you this was a very low budget movie.
The never released 1994 Fantastic Four movie which was produced by Roger Corman was supposed to premiere there, but it was canceled due to Marvel and 20th Century Fox preventing the release of the movie.
I guessing these were taking in spring 1984, mainly cause of the hair style and from what I can tell the movie title on the marque says “Up the Creek” which was a movie that came out that year.
Hey just saw a new video of the theater and actually shows a way into the building, unfortunately this also means that more unscrupulous people have found their way in and have added graffiti and possible further damage to the structure which is very disappointing, though not these guys in the videos. These two photographers did manage to do one thing that to my knowledge others have not and that it finding their way to the roof! I highly recommend you all check this video out! https://youtu.be/SD4F8tLIlQ8
markp, are you still interested in my personal ?
Excellent very much looking forward to speaking to you directly !
markp Excellent ! And September would be fine, I myself am currently working on some other things at the moment so I would love to do it then. Just drop me an email so we can further discuss it. Mine is . I look forward to hearing from you directly ! 🙂
Well markp I myself have a YouTube channel and I would be more than happy to discuss or even interview you over zoom about your past experiences as a projectionist most specifically about your experiences and stories surrounding the Amboy Cinema but after you telling me about the fact that you ran other types of movie theaters as well it has me even more interested especially with recent events and the fact that the movie theater industry was under its most recent hardship. Please let me know if you’re interested in this offer.
markp have you ever considered doing a YouTube series on your various experiences as a projectionist in multiple cinemas over the years ? I would to hear more of your stories in greater detail especially with aforementioned Amboy Cinema.
Thank you markp for that input. I did not know that the cinema had that many seats and I personally find it quite amazing that you remember all that after all these years. However I don’t understand why they let this building sit, wasting money in property tax. The building is filled with Incredible mold and mildew all over except for maybe in certain places of the projection room and if the ceiling wasn’t sinking then, it’s definitely sinking now as seen from the videos of people exploring the building so the idea of building ever being repurposed is just out of the question. National amusements should just let the building go and give the property back to the city of Sayreville so that they can actually use the land for something else. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a sucker for abandoned places and urban exploring and I have been fascinated with this building since I was 8 years old and it has a lot of memories for my family who did go to the theater. But given all the information that has been presented with videos and photographs, it’s clear that any future for the Amboy building is as fictional as some of the motion pictures that used to show.
So essentially the theater was expanded to death, it went from a 6 screen to an 8 screen to a 10 screen to a 12 screen and finally to a 14 Screen Cinema, all within the span of six years. That kind of expansion that quick in my opinion can cause unnecessary stress to the already existing infrastructure within the building. Even though it wouldn’t happen until 2005, I feel that the building just couldn’t handle the extra load need to take in which is what caused the ceiling to initially sink. Since then as seen from the photos and videos of people exploring the building, the infrastructure has gotten worse and worse and eventually we’ll probably just collapse in on itself completely. So from what ridethectrain has said, I would say Amboy Cinemas expanded too much, too fast, too soon and 18 years of that stress on the building, finally gave out. I’m now convinced had they not have expanded so much or not as fast as they did, maybe Amboy Cinemas would still be open today.
Could someone tell me what’s this art gallery in the background ?
Are there more photos that you have ?
A new video has been posted. Basically from the same venture to the building as the previous, however this was recorded and edited by the previous posters partner as they were both filming simultaneously. Same things that I said before apply for this as well. https://youtu.be/dVOD4Zd3kPc
To add on to what markp has been saying on this forum for many years now, the building has actually gotten worse since AmboyUrbanEx first got into the building back in 2016. The water damage has become even more extensive and many of the theaters have become completely dilapidated, one of which has a ceiling that is in so much disrepair that the roof has even caved in revealing some sunlight. All of this can be seen in the video that I shared in my previous comment. So in short it is safe to say that unfortunately the building can never be repurposed ever again and the only other option is to demolish the structure. My only hope is that National Amusements can come into the building prior to demolition to retrieve anything in the building that could be salvageable that being old movie theater Marquis security footage old tapes which are in the upstairs office area, just for the sake of preservation and history so we can at least see what the theater used to look like in its heyday.
Hello everyone ! I am happy to say that someone has actually gained acces into the defunct cinema and has filmed the inside of it using a high quality 4K camera here is the link to the video.
https://youtu.be/HhuHW-bBTbM
Now the man who film this censored the sign as well as any Marquis that would have indicated it as the Amboy Cinema in order to keep himself safe. So I strongly urge you all to not Badger this man and try to ask him how he got inside the building. We should all be grateful that he has this footage at all. The reason I know that this is Amboy is because of the fact that everything matches up to the photographs and the end of the video shows the exterior matching the location of Amboy. He also mentioned in the video that the reason he censored the name of the cinema was to keep people from going in the theater to vandalize it so it’s most likely that the entrance way where he was able to enter the building is still there and still open but as AmboyUrbanEx said himself several years ago it’s very dangerous so be mindful of the risks.
Did you recognize any of those film trailers or what they may be ?
I understand, thank you for your response though.
Does anyone remember what the back sign used to say ?
P.P.S. You can also email me at .
Side note to others, I understand that everyone can see my message and so I would like to point that this is for the user amboyurbex only. For those who claim to be this person and turn out not to be, please don’t pretend to be someone you are not and take credit for someone else’s work. For me this is a small passion project for me, I don’t have time for trolls.
Excuse me amboyurbex, but I was wondering if I could interview you about your experience while documenting Amboy Cinemas building for my YouTube channel. I understand that you would like to keep your identity a secret which is why I would like this interview to be strictly audio only, using your photos as visuals. I will even loop your voice if you would like ? If you are interested please contact me via Facebook messenger.
P.S. I was the one who shared your photos on Facebook, I’m sorry for that.
You can still see some light seeping through the seems of the plywood on the windows, its actually kind of creepy but awesome at the same time, one thing we do know is that these were taken during the day, not at night though to be fair I don’t really blame this person to be honest. It probably would’ve been more problematic to get in here at night, let alone all by themselves. Who ever you are and where ever you are amboyurex, thank you and god bless you we all know it might not have been easy being in this theatre all alone, but the fact that you did it just shows that you are a true artist !