Movie Tavern by Marcus Tucker
4043 LaVista Road,
Tucker,
GA
30084
4043 LaVista Road,
Tucker,
GA
30084
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This theatre was included in Marcus Theatres purchase of Movie Tavern and as such as of February 1, 2019 is now operated by Marcus Theatres. This theatre is now “Movie Tavern by Marcus Tucker” and all relevant information is now on the Marcus Theatres website, www.marcustheatres.com.
AMC Northlake 8 (May 23rd, 1984-August 2002) Northlake Festival Movie Tavern (May 16, 2008-Present)
This opened on May 23rd, 1984. Grand opening ad in the photo section.
I attended a brunch screening of “Deadpool” here last month in one of the single-aisle (and smaller) auditoriums. Whoever retrofitted the theater also made sure that you could see the entire screen should the move be in 2.35:1. When I attended this theater as an AMC from 1991-2002, I would avoid any single-aisle auditorium if I knew the film would be in scope. That is no longer the case (but I had to wonder why they moved “Deadpool” into a smaller auditorium on only its second week…)
Cool to see this open again. This was THE PLACE to see big hits in the mid-to-late ‘80’s. “Top Gun” in 70MM and “Indiana Jones Last Crusade” 70MM as well. I remember midnight show for “Total Recall” being packed, and they would have shows start as late as 1AM on weekends. Of course, I was in high school/early college at this time, haha.
More photos
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The conversion of the Northlake 8 into the Movie Tavern was designed by the Dallas architectural firm Partners in Architecture.
The Movie Tavern, a cinema-eatery, now calls DeKalb County home.
The new business opened May 15 in the old AMC 8 cinema on Northlake Festival shopping center in Tucker.
The Movie Tavern, which shows first-run movies, has eight auditoriums and a full menu and wait staff that takes patrons' orders for everything from pizza to hot sandwiches, which is then delivered to the patrons in the auditorium.
The Dallas, Texas-based chain, which started in 2001, has more than 102 locations across the country. The Tucker location is one of 15 the chain will open in 2008.
It offers a full menu of chef-prepared classic American favorites including hand-tossed pizzas, burgers and sandwiches. It also serves beer, wine and margaritas from its lobby bar.
Great Comment Stan, our gang was sadly the last real theatre employee group that made close ties.I read how you have them in the BIG “A”,i have them in the little"A".
Slight correction: AMC Northlake opened in 1984. I specifically remember seeing “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and “The Neverending Story” there.
1985-2002 AMC
2008- Movie Tavern
AMC owned this theatre
Here some photos.
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And it’s open still as of today. And seeing as how I work there now and it’s my only job currently … I hope it stays open for awhile …
Wow still operating as a Movie Tavern today 8/10/2009..
I was an early ‘90s employee, and can verify there was a group that worked there for years. I was there from 10th grade until I left for college ('92-'94), and then one more summer after my freshman year at UGA. There were people there long before me who lasted for years after I left.
To correct some stuff from up above: AMC Northlake opened in 1984. The first movies I saw there (at 8 years old) were “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and “Dune.” And Northlake 2 hung on until 1992. I specifically remember seeing some ‘92 releases over there (“Lethal Weapon 3” pops to mind).
I think AMC Northlake closed around ‘99. I know that’s when the Regal Hollywood 24 opened its doors, and the competition was obviously crushing.
Here is the website:
http://tinyurl.com/5ocz94
Northlake Festival 8 has reopened as part of the Movie Tavern chain. I will be attending the grand opening 5/16/08 to see Iron Man.
The last movie I can remember seeing at the old theater is the Spike Lee movie Do The Right Thing. It was the opening Friday for the film and the screening was sold out. The crowd was mostly twentysometings, fairly evenly mixed racially, and somewhat raucous. They had the volume for the film cranked up but a lot of the lines in the early scenes still got drowned out by the laughter of the audience. You could feel a certain amount of tension in the air though, like maybe the white people wondering whether they should be laughing. Towards the end of the movie the audience got quieter, the laughter more tense. It was damn near silent when the riot scene started. The movie seems a bit dated now, but it was electrifying at the time and one of my more memorable moviegoing experiences.
A side note: the N'lake Festival shopping center was a very popular car cruising site for teens in the late eighties. It probably put off a lot of adults from seeing movies there on weekends. Don’t know if this had anything to do with the closing of what seemed to be a very popular theater.
Here are photos from July 2007 of what remains of the Northlake Festival Cinemas: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Theater needs a lot of work but could make it i think……..
Built as a free standing building in the Northlake Festival Shopping Center. I never worked at this place, or even went inside, but I believe that it was built in 1983 and opened with “Indiana Jones And The Temple of Doom.” At this time the Northlake Mall area was served by the GCC Northlake 2 Triple, and the Georgia Theatre Company Village Twin ( /theaters/13468/ ) although the latter may have been closed by this time. The other nearby theatres were the Greens Corner to the north, the North 85 Drive In to the west, and the North Dekalb and Suburban Plaza to the south.
Until the Northlake and its AMC partner Galleria 8 were built I don’t remember any Atlanta theatres with more than 6 screens, so this was what passed for a megaplex in those days. Northlake was an instant hit and for the rest of the 80’s it competed with the Galleria for the title of #1 grossing theatre in Atlanta. The Northlake 2, which had been a very successful location for GCC was all but wiped off the map by the AMC 8, and staggered on until its close in 1990. Oddly enough, the AMC 8 did not last much longer, closing in the mid to late 90’s. Not having any connection to it, I have no knowledge of what brought about its end, but it could be that an 8 screen location was not worth the trouble to a big outfit like AMC by the time that 18-24 screens were the norm. By this time AMC had converted their recently rebuilt North DeKalb 8 into 16 screens and Regal had announced plans to demolish the North 85 Drive In and build what would become the Hollywood 24, so maybe that was what did it. Still, it is odd that the very busy and well to do area of Northlake Mall does not have a movie theatre in its immediate vicinity.
One odd thing about this place: A friend of mine who worked there said that there was a core of high school aged employees who started working there when the place opened that remained throughout their college years, and in some cases continued on after college on a part time basis. Just reliving the good old days I suppose. That’s a nice memory in these days when 24 screen theatres churn through employees like they were confetti and the employees seldom get a chance to experience what working in an actual movie theater was like. Maybe some of those old timers will see this site and write us some first hand accounts.
Theater seats , candy ,projection all have been removed.
1720 seats …for lease 26,000. sq feet