Twelve Oaks Theatre

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Uploaded on: April 4, 2023

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This is the current (2023) appearance of the picture currently above the overview which I took in August 1975. The nightclub / concert venue which had done an elaborate reconstruction of the lobby was closed for the Covid bug. It may be closed for good as there is a For Rent sign on the lobby glass wall.

12 Oaks was never a big success for Loews. Like most theaters it had its moments such as Clockwork Orange and Deliverance in 1972, but it was the last single screen first run house built in Atlanta. The only time all 1200 seats were full was in the fall of 1972 during the first few weekends of Deliverance. As a twin it had capacity crowds for Nashville in 1975, Silent Movie in 1976, Heaven Can Wait in 1978, and its last Loews hit, Bring There in February 1980. The only times that both sides were busy was in 1976 with Silent Movie and Outlaw Josey Wales and 1977 with Julia and Turning Point, both of which would have done better down the road at Tara.

As an example of how hard it was to make money in those days, Nashville, the last movie to play there during my manager days, had numerous sellouts and grossed $90K for its 22 week run. However, the advance was $92K so they made nothing at the box office that summer and since it was R rated and 3 hours long there was not a lot of concession business either. Also, Loews subbed out their concession stands to ARA so they didn’t get the full benefit of that anyway.