Island Cinemas
1708 Montauk Highway,
Mastic,
NY
11950
1708 Montauk Highway,
Mastic,
NY
11950
2 people
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Additional Info
Previous Names: Movieland Cinema of Mastic
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In defiance of the usual progression for many theater buildings, this theater was actually converted from a large A&P Supermarket in the late-1980’s or early-1990’s, instead of the typical progression where a theater gets converted to a store.
The eight-screen Movieland Cinema of Mastic was opened on November 14, 1997. It was closed October 14, 2007, and a new seven-screen cinema with 725 seats opened on the site in March 2008, named Island Cinemas. By early-2019 it been expanded to nine-screens and offered a dine-in option. It closed on March 14, 2020 due to COVID, and the closure was made permanent later in 2020.
Contributed by
Bway Chris
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Recent comments (view all 33 comments)
It would of been nice they would of said something on their website.
Probably just phased out because of Covid as is the case with other theatres.
10 screens on October 31st, 1997 the cheap stake owners bought no grand opening ad in Newsday.
At one time the owners were a group of lawyers. They added a couple of illegal screens. Go figure.
Remains of movies past still on the pylon.
The Island Cinemas opened in a strip shopping center once referred to as Bell Plaza and housing an A&P Grocery Store. A&P’s parent company, West German Tengelmann Group, closed a major wave of stores - over 1,500 - entering the 1980s and this was one of its locations - likely ending at a 10-year opt out. County Dump Liquidators operated here from August 27, 1986 to March 29, 1992 (closing as County Liquidators). This throws some doubt into the entry above stating a late 1980s or early 1990s opening but can certainly stand as written by the contributor.
Ronald Lesser of Lesser Theatre Service Circuit - operator of the Bedford Playhouse Twin and Mt. Kisco Multi-Cinema, took on the property. Lesser opened it as Movieland Cinema of Mastic on November 14, 1997 with “Starship Troopers,” “I Know… Summer,” “Jackal,” “Devil’s Advocate,” “The Rainmaker,” “Little Mermaid,” “Red Corner,” and “The Man Who Knew Too Little.” Lesser closed here at the end or opt-out of the venue’s 10-year leasing agreement on October 14, 2007.
The center had been renamed as the Mastic Shopping Center. After a refresh, the venue reopened on March 14, 2008 as Island 7 Cinemas. That name was refined to Mastic Island Cinemas when the venue reached its final fighting weight of 9 screens.
Mastic Island Cinemas made it easily to its 12-year anniversary on March 14, 2020. Celebrate! But after showtimes the next day, it closed for the COVID-19 pandemic with “The Hunt,” “Onward,” “The Invisible Man,” “The Call of the Wild,” “Impratical Jokers,” “Fantasy Island,” “Sonic: The Hedgehog,” “Bad Boys For Life,” “Moondance,” and “Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey.” The Island Cinemas then were just frozen in place year after year after year as the conversion of the property was a bit more of an undertaking than was necessary in the retail landscape of the 2020s. It was a popular destination of urbexers and vandals with its forever posters and attractor features still on display in the mid-2020s.
Please update, theatre opened as Movieland Cinema of Mastic on November 14, 1997 in description
x• Opening: November 14, 1997 (opening features included “Starship Troopers”, “The Jackal”, and “The Devil’s Advocate”, among others).
• Closure (First Run): Closed on October 14, 2007, when the lease expired.
• Reopening: Reopened in March 2008 as Island Cinemas (later expanded and rebranded as Mastic Island Cinemas).
• Final Closure: Shut down temporarily in March 2008 / March 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions and permanently closed later in 2020
That’s from the “Greater Long Island” FB page…
At the end of the run they had a dine in option.
Please update, theatre closed on March 14, 2020 when NYS ordered all theatres to closed, never reopened.
Seating Capacity:
Theatre 1, 2, 3, and 4 94
Theatre 5 62
Theatre 6 189
Theatre 7 210
Theatre 8 146
Theatre 9 don’t know was open seating
Source: Island Cinemas seat maps when it was opened in 2020