Carmike Biltmore Twin Theatres
780 Hendersonville Road,
Asheville,
NC
28803
780 Hendersonville Road,
Asheville,
NC
28803
1 person
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Carmike Cinemas, Martin Theatres
Previous Names: Biltmore Cinema, Biltmore Twin Theatres
Nearby Theaters
Located off Hendersonville Road in the South Biltmore Forest Shopping Center, the Biltmore Twin Theatre’s were really not the city’s nicest and they were in a pretty good side of town. It was originally opened as the Biltmore Cinema on December 23, 1970 as a single screen theatre, with 500 seats. It was owned and operated by the Martin Theatres-Fuqua Group Entertainment Division. The Biltmore Cinema at the time of its opening was Asheville’s second Ultravision theatre following the opening of the Terrace Theatre at Tunnel Road, which had opened in 1967.. Most of the movies the Biltmore Cinema showed were first-run Asheville exclusives such as “Tora!, Tora!, Tora!” “Patton”, “Big Jake”, “The Owl and the Pussycat” and “The Way We Were”. There were also some off-the-wall flicks such as “Five on the Black Hand Side”, and “Digby, the Biggest Dog in the World”. It remained a single screen until May 12, 1975 when it closed with “Rancho Deluxe”.
On May 23, 1975 it was renamed Biltmore Twin Theatres where the original auditorium had be split into two sections with 250 seats in each auditorium. The grand re-opening attractions for the Biltmore Twin Theatres were “Rosebud” and “Chinatown”. It became Asheville’s top rated cinema getting most of the big blockbusters like “Rocky”, “Black Sunday”, “The Rose”, “Star Trek:The Motion Picture”, “Star Trek III:The Search for Spock”, “Tootsie”, “The Verdict”, as well as having sold out capacity crowds for “Beverley Hills Cop”, “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and the original “The Terminator”. Other films which played here were a mixed variety as follows: “Charlottes Web”, “Visiting Hours”, and “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid” (which ran for 4 weeks in June 1982), while “Arthur” with Dudley more returned for a second run hit bringing in capacity crowds. The Biltomore Twin Theatres would also get the worst of the worst including: “One on One”, “Battle Beyond the Stars”, “Corvette Summer”< The Gumball Rally", Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band", “C.H.O.M.P.S.”, “The Child”, “The Man Who Loved Women”, “Metalstorm:The Destruction of Jared-Syn” and “Grandview U.S.A.” to name but a few.
Carmike Cinemas acquired the Biltmore Twin Theatres in 1982 from Martin Theatres and in 1986 it became the Carmike Bilmore Twin Theatres screning second-run movies at bargain prices. Carmike Cinemas closed the theatre on July 12, 1995 and it was demolished a year later due to the renovations that were happening at the South Biltmore Forest Shopping Center.
Contributed by
MikeRogers
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Recent comments (view all 28 comments)
Also played here was that Exorcist/Omen rip off flick “THE CHILD” from producer-director Roger Corman.
“PURPLE RAIN”-played at the Biltmore Twin Theatres on September 13,1984 for a second-run after playing an impressive 14 weeks at Asheville’s Mall Theatres.
Mike Rogers: The Biltmore Twin Theatres were NEVER under Litchfield. It opened as the Biltmore Cinema on December 23,1970 under Martin Theatres. Carmike took over this theatre in 1982.
June 13,1982 at the Biltmore Twin Theatres…..
I-William Shatner and Lee Grant in “Visiting Hours”
II-Steve Martin in “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid”(going on four weeks)
February 3,1980 at the Biltmore Twin Theatres….
I-Going into nine weeks is STAR TREK:THE MOTION PICTURE
II-Going on seven weeks is Bette Midler in THE ROSE
Dudley Moore’s ARTHUR returns for a second hit run while that silly basketball movie with Robby Benson and Annette O'Toole “One On One” returns to Asheville.
It also got that very cheap horror film that would be most suited for the drive-in theatre crowd “Ruby” with Piper Laurie and Stuart Whitman released in 1977. This Omen/Exorcist/Carrie rip-off was reduced to $2.50 a seat for a very good reason where this movie ended up playing on a first-run venue at Asheville’s Park Drive-In.
A lot of cheap movies got first-run billing at the Biltmore Theatres including “The Boogens”,“The Town That Dreaded Sundown”, “Day of the Animals”,two kung-fu double features “Exit The Dragon,Enter The Tiger” & “The Five Fingers of Death”,“Laserblast”,“Battle Beyond The Stars”(that Star Wars rip-off produced by Roger Corman that starred Richard Thomas of “The Waltons”,and Robert Vaughn)…not to mention a lot more……
OMG…..“Rabbit Test” played here first-run????? The film debut of Billy Crystal and the worst Joan Rivers movie ever made! Who told her that she was a first-rate director for Hollywood?
I seem to remember seeing movies here much later than the claimed closing date of 1991. I saw Aladdin, the Lion King, Addams Family Values, Forrest Gump, Outbreak at a twin-screen second-run theater in the same general location as late as 1995.
raysson, I have both 1970 and 1975 grand opening ads in the photo section for this cinema. More ads to come for Asheville
The last day of business appears to have been 12/7/1995.