Edison Mall Twin

The Edison Mall opened theatre-less for the start beginning with the mall’s Sears on October 28, 1964. The mall itself was developed by George Sanders, who was one of the “most-watched” people of the News-Press in the 1960’s.

On October 31, 1966, plans of a 900-seat luxury theatre were displayed by George Sanders, the owner of the mall, and Bob Harris, the district manager of Florida State Theatres (later part of ABC, who owns the downtown area’s Arcade Theatre and Edison Theatre at the time). Shortly after their plans were approved, construction by the Finger Construction Company of Fort Myers began immediately.

The 900-seat Mall Theatre opened its doors by Florida State Theatres on July 20, 1967 with Lee Marvin in “The Dirty Dozen”, with the opening being specially sponsored by CBS/NBC/ABC (now CBS) station WINK-TV, and radio stations WINK-AM (now defunct), and WINK-FM.

The theatre was later operated by Gene Odom. The Mall Theatre as a single-screener went through many chains, first by ABC Florida State Theatres, followed by Plitt, and lastly Cobb Theatres. It was a single-screener for the first 14 years of operation, until the Mall Theatre became a twin as the Mall Twin in November 1981.

The Edison Mall Twin operated for 19 years and 357 days in total, and the twin closed for the final time on July 12, 1987 with “The Untouchables” and “Benji the Haunted” as its last films.

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