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Topic: Anyone familiar with Muvico theatres?

William Hooper
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1879
From: Mobile, AL USA
Registered: Jun 99

posted 03-24-2005 04:18 AM

Is anyone familiar with Muvico theatres?

Check the theatres on their site, especially the Egyptian, Peabody, & Parisian:
http://www.muvico.com/main/muvico_alltheaters.htm

I don't have to have retro, but I hope this means the end of the hideous Warehouse Store theatre architectural style hanging around for 2 decades that succeeded the hideous 70s cinderblock shoebox twin style. I'm tired of theatres that look like a Best Buy with two more colors of neon & a concession stand!

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Mark Ogden
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 943
From: Little Falls, N.J.
Registered: Jun 99

posted 03-24-2005 08:46 AM

Muvico is a chain that began in Florida and is slowly working its way up the East Coast. They have a deal in place to develop a megaplex at the New Jersey Meadowlands Xanadu complex, if it ever gets off the ground. The theatre will include an outdoor screen on the roof of the building, for use during the warm months. What they will do about the Meadowland’s legendary mosquitoes has not been announced.

We spend a lot of time at Muvico when we are in Florida, especially their Ybor City and Baywalk houses. They certainly do things in a big way, and as you see from the website their theatres are pretty lavishly appointed (to me, though, they look like fin-de-siecle whorehouses). At some of their theatres, a few of the screens are segregated into a 21-and-over section, with full bar service. My moviegoing experience with them is that their projection and sound are very good, I’ve never been moved to complain once.

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Mark J. Marshall
Film God

Posts: 3188
From: New Castle, DE, USA
Registered: Aug 2002

posted 03-24-2005 09:11 AM

My brother worked as a floor staff supervisor (they call them coordinators) at the Muvico theater in Baltimore for a couple of years. (He lurks here from time to time, but I don't think he's ever signed up.) I've been there a couple of times to see him. Once to see a movie, and it was a pretty good presentation, although it was a smaller auditorium.

We asked the managers for a booth tour, which was a treat for both of us because HE had never been up there either! It was a nice setup. CP650s with basement readers in every house, two DTSs which were broken, and I believe they were millenium projectors, but I can't remember for sure. Lots of good stuff at the concession stand including pizza, chicken wings, mozzarella sticks, chicken fingers, etc.

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Aaron Mehocic
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 804
From: New Castle, PA, USA
Registered: Jun 99

posted 03-24-2005 11:31 AM

Their founder and current CEO is an Iranian immigrant, a Mr. Hashimi, I believe. He and Muvico were featured some years ago in an article in Boxoffice Magazine. What struck me most from the piece was this guy's determination to build a corporation, not just own a chain of movie theatres. That says a lot about his work ethic, but I wonder where he got his initial start-up capital?

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Mike Spaeth
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1129
From: Marietta, GA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 03-24-2005 11:40 AM

He built a smaller chain in the early 90's that he sold to Regal and started over.

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Lyle Romer
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1400
From: Davie, FL, USA
Registered: May 2002

posted 03-24-2005 12:37 PM

What is interesting is that at least with some of the theatres, Muvico builds them and then sells them to an investment firm with a contract to operate them.

I guess it makes some sense so that Muvico pulls their capital out of the project quickly even though they don't get all the long term profit. I'm pretty sure this was done with all the new-build South Florida Muvico's.

I give Muvico a lot of credit for their designs. It makes you feel like you are getting something for your money. Of all the Muvico's I've been to, I like the one in Boca Raton, FL the best. It is "themed" like an old time movie house. Although less "impressive" than the over the top egyptian themes and whatnot at the other theatres, I think it fits more with a night at the movies. I think the over the top themes are a little too "Disney World" but it's still a lot better than no interior design at all.

One cool thing they did was worked with Dolby to make a combined Dolby Digital/Feature Presentation trailer. It uses the Dolby "Egypt" snipe but at the end it fades to black and has the Muvico feature presentation tag but the audio from the Dolby trailer is still present. I believe that all of their screens circuit wide are Dolby Digital.

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Timothy Ervin
Film Handler

Posts: 84
From: Oklahoma
Registered: Jan 2001

posted 03-24-2005 01:44 PM

I have heard they have some beautiful and awesome theatres. I do not know anything about thier management style or operations.

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Richard Fowler
Film God

Posts: 2392
From: Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA
Registered: Jun 2001

posted 03-24-2005 02:54 PM

We where a vendor with his first chain when he was robbing Peter to pay Paul to stay afloat with the existing houses he was aquiring. His first themed sixplex with planets and stars was built in North Miami in the late 1980's and from then on everything was themed to the max. He obtained initial investments from out of USA investors based on his proven drive and tight management. His equipment is supplied by the same dealer for many years and I assume that most of his work is just for him. At least he is building movie palaces instead of dressy warehouses [Smile]

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Richard Hamilton
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1341
From: Evansville, Indiana
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 03-24-2005 03:00 PM

I installed Mega 8/70s at both the Peabody Place in Memphis and the Pointe in Orlando. Both very nice theatres. Looked like they spared no expense in building them.

Rick

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Don Furr
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 509
From: Sun City, Ca USA
Registered: Nov 2002

posted 03-24-2005 03:14 PM

I lived in Ft. Lauderdale for a couple of years and frequented the Davie location (Paradise). It was always a quality show and I never had a complaint [thumbsup]

Don

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Dean Kollet
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 591
From: Florida State University
Registered: Jul 2003

posted 03-24-2005 07:44 PM

I've heard, from many people here in FL, that the reason he is spending so much on theatres is simple...it's a tax shelter. It makes sense to me, seeing as a corperation's goal is to put as much money in their pockets as possible, but I haven't really looked into it. I do know that they stole a BUNCH of AMC's managers in Florida when they built their theatres around the state.

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John Walsh
Film God

Posts: 2490
From: Connecticut, USA, Earth, Milky Way
Registered: Oct 1999

posted 03-25-2005 09:32 AM

I visited the one in West Palm Beach; it was very nice. I seem to remember they have EAW surround speakers... It had a bar area, game room, and a nursery. It was located in a downtown area with resturants, shops, etc.

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Joseph Pandolfi
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 213
From: Milford, CT.
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 03-31-2005 07:47 PM

I been to the one on I drive in Orlando. I remember getting the tickets on the floor above the street level in a seperate booth and entering the theatre on the third floor.

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Aaron Mehocic
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 804
From: New Castle, PA, USA
Registered: Jun 99

posted 06-25-2005 02:39 PM

For archival purposes here is the latest newsblurb out there about Muvico from Reel Source News , Vol. XXV, Issue 25, June 19, 2005, page 3.

quote:
'MUVICO' ADDS SPECTACLE TO MOVIES IN MALLS
As mentioned in the Wall Street Journal this past week, more themed megaplexes are opening in malls around the country because of Florida-based chain Muvico Theatres Inc. Monstrous theatres like the Egyptian 24 in Hanover, MD and the Parisian 20 in West Palm Beach, FL have proven how lucrative they can be after their revenues rose from $12 million in the late 1990's to $130 million today. Founded by President Hamid Hashemi, Muvico plans to build the nation's biggest theater by seats - 6,500 on 26 screens. By enticing moviegoers with glitz, gaud, and sheer size, Muvico creates a kind of mini-Las Vegas atmosphere. The Egyptian, for example, flaunts reproduction hieroglyphs and huge statues. Hashemi explained to the Wall Street Journal, "with the shortening of the window between the DVD and the theatrical release we really have to create an event."

Whether creating "an event" in this way will revitalize a waning distribution industry is left to be seen. After the mid-1990's inundation of megaplexes, big chains like Loews, United Artists, and Regal filed for bankruptcy in the early part of this decade. As Muvico expands, with its 20+ screen theatres, not only will big chains lose a chunk of the market but many independently ran and operated neighborhood cinemas will be more and more hard pressed to draw moviegoers. No doubt theatres will need to emphasize the "experience at the movies" to keep crowds coming with home entertainment systems quickly mimicking the movie-watching experience, but whether Hashemi's belief that "bigger is better" will win out in movie marketplaves is yet to be seen. At the very least, Muvico might be the necessary incentive for smaller movie chains to create more magical experiences in more creative ways.

Clearly a mis-leading title, but I think this brings some type of clarity to Muvico's business plan - not that any of us could have already figured it out.

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Franklin Armstrong
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 106
From: Orlando, FL, USA
Registered: Sep 2002

posted 06-25-2005 08:44 PM

Yeah I worked at Pointe 21 When they had Imax and had it ripped out then but in mega systems ran Beauty and the beast I have that movie replaying over and over in my mind [puke]

It was fun [sleep]

and i left since it was not working out tring to become a manager there. I still know and talk to people there. Its an ok ~~~ theater chain to work for [beer]

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