What's the latest theatre to close or open you have heard about?

[Jim Cassedy]

Well here’s some welcome news! Seattle International Film Festival has
acquired the Seattle Cinerama and plans to reopen it later this year. .

I hope the new owners flatten out that nasty curve they've got in their screen. ..

[Geoff Jones]

SIFF taking over the Cinerama is the best exhibition news I've heard in a very long time.

Prior to the shutdown, it was the only U.S. cinema (afaik*) that got everything right.

• Regular showings of new releases.
• Frequent showings of classics.
• All on an immersive 60+ foot wide screen (except Cinerama showings every few years, which were on the deeply curved 90' wide screen).
• Top-of-the-line audio and projection technology (both old and new).
• Comfortable seating with unobstucted sight-lines.
• Excellent auditorium acoustics.
• Proper screen masking.
• No pre-show ads.

And judging from the seating charts at the time, the 800-seat auditorium was regularly "full" if not actually sold-out.

Based on their press release, it sounds like they intend to operate the theater the way it was operated before, sans the "Cinerama" name. Fingers crossed!

* If another cinema is meeting those criteria, I'd love to hear about it.

[Sam Chavez]

Best opening news I've heard in a long time. I've been going there since the '80's and stayed at a hotel in this hood ever since to make it easy to go there. Interestingly there is an issue with keeping the "Cinerama" name.

[John Eickhof]

AAAAAAHHHH! great news! now if I can get to Seattle for a transplant, I can visit the big screen again! Last show I saw was when Paul ran How The West Was Won, years ago!

[Martin McCaffery]

The Return of the Uptown in DC?
Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...s-destination/

Opinion Give D.C.’s grand movie palace a Hollywood ending

Editorial Board The marquee of the Uptown Theater in 2001. (Dayna Smith for The Washington Post)
The District last year completed a report on the historic value of the Uptown Theater in Cleveland Park, calling the famous local institution “an excellent example of an Art Deco motion-picture palace with high historic integrity and remarkable longevity.”

Just not quite remarkable enough for cinéastes in and around Washington. The Uptown closed in March 2020, when AMC Theatres, the world’s largest movie chain, pulled out after a run of Pixar’s “Onward.” AMC provided no explanation for the move, though trends in the exhibitor industry didn’t leave too much to the imagination: Chains had long since moved to a multiplex model, the better to provide more options for moviegoers and, thus, fill more seats. The Uptown is a single-screen marvel that has captivated generations of Washingtonians.

“It would be wonderful if someone could make that theater viable financially,” said Donetta George, chair of the board of the Avalon Theatre Project, the group that keeps afloat its namesake two-screen movie house just up Connecticut Avenue from the Uptown.

Any change to the beloved Uptown, which was named a historic landmark last year, is bound to displease the faithful. As AMC’s withdrawal signaled, the theater’s model had sustainability problems. Everyone old enough remembers the glory days of the Uptown — the 1968 premiere of “2001: A Space Odyssey,” the 1993 premiere of “Jurassic Park,” its “Star Wars” coup of May 1977 (dubbed by The Post as “The Movie That Ate Cleveland Park”) and other high-profile moments. Less salient in all the nostalgia, however, is the quotidian reality of sparse audiences dwarfed by an outsize backdrop. In a 2018 oral history of the Uptown in the Washington City Paper, journalist Chris Klimek recalled going to a 10:30 p.m. screening of “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” then the top movie in the country. “I counted 11 people in the audience, about the same number I remembered counting when I’d bought a ticket for the 40th anniversary re-release of ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind.’”

More than three years into the idleness of the Uptown, what does a successful outcome look like for this cultural treasure? And what’s going on with it, anyway?

“I hate to see any movie theater close,” Ted Pedas told The Post’s Paul Schwartzman after AMC Theatres pulled out. “It’s in your blood. I love that theater.” Pedas and his brother, Jim Pedas, were the building’s owners but passed “much of their interest” to Ted Pedas’s children. Also on the Editorial Board’s agenda


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To save the Uptown, the Pedas family spent many of the covid lockdown months considering its transformation at a time when movie theater operators weren’t looking to sign leases. “There was some exploration during the pandemic — what would it take to make it into a multi-screen” complex, said commercial real estate broker Bill Miller, who represents the Pedas family concern.

The answer to that question was: Way too much money. “It just — it wouldn’t pencil out,” said Miller.

Opened by Warner Bros. in 1936, the Uptown’s Depression-era architecture features descending floors, a cavern of open space and design anomalies delightful for hipster movie buffs — though anathema for anyone seeking to retrofit the place for a multiplex or other uses. The mezzanine, for instance, is a hodgepodge of slopes and step-ups that would complicate any attempt to ensure ADA compliance under a new occupant. Monthly rent for the building is around $30,000. In attempting to renovate the more than 18,000-square-foot structure, “you can get to $10 million in a second,” said Mr. Miller.

Facing the infeasibility of a multiplex renovation, the building’s owners last fall listed the property for lease. At least one of the resulting proposals laid out a plan to preserve the Uptown’s character. Emily Lenzner, who grew up in the neighborhood, drafted a blueprint for the Uptown Center for Arts & Film — a movie theater surrounded by a restaurant, entertainment space, a smaller theater space, a catering kitchen and other amenities, as DCist reported.

Ms. Lenzner’s solution is akin to what concerned citizens cooked up for the Avalon, which closed in 2001. They created a nonprofit organization to fund operations via donations and revenue from programming and other sources.

The Uptown’s owners considered Ms. Lenzner’s plan but informed her that it didn’t make the final cut. According to an email sent by Ms. Lenzner to her supporters and reported by PoPville in March, the owners indicated that they’d signed a “letter of intent with an ‘arts/theater group’ that they believe ‘will change the course of the Uptown and the neighborhood.’” Mr. Miller won’t disclose details of what’s to come but said that one of the uses for the space is in the “projected arts realm” and “something that you can’t do on your big-screen TV at your home.” He’s hoping that a deal will be announced this summer.

It’s unclear what group is poised to serve as the next custodian of the Uptown. What is clear is that in a town that hosts some of the country’s foremost cultural centers and associations — such as the Smithsonian, the Library of Congress, the Motion Picture Association, as well as deep-pocketed benefactors who might enjoy a legacy tied to something as prestigious as the Uptown — there’s little excuse for failure.

A win for the Uptown at this point is any sort of arts venue that attracts people. Many people, preferably: Cleveland Park, after all, has distinguished itself for vibrancy-killing NIMBY actions that have reduced it to also-ran status among D.C. neighborhoods. It could use some bustle.

[Ian Puffenberger]

The Return of the Uptown in DC?
Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...s-destination/

A rumor I’ve seen is that it’s being taken over by Meow Wolf, an immersive art exhibitor that’s most definitely not a cinema operator.

Sadly the only way it would ever be preserved is via a non-profit, and there are already two non-profit cinemas in the DC area that I know of (Avalon, AFI Silver). Or by a fan with millions in cash to burn, a la Paul Allen with the Seattle Cinerama. There was a community-based proposal to convert part of it into a restaurant and art gallery space and retain part of it as a cinema, but due to space constraints would likely have meant doing away with the huge screen and only preserving a cinema in part of the balcony. Or eliminating half or so of the floor level
seating and preserving the big screen, but with only maybe 200 recliners.

[Steve Guttag]

I tend to agree that non-profit organization is likely the only way for it to have a future. Any change that would change its front end would so change its character such as to render it non-special anymore. What drew people to that theatre was the sense of the massive presentation. Everything was bigger at the Uptown. The curtain that seemed to keep going and going and going. The balcony seating was also extremely popular.

I would dispute that the likes of AMC not knowing how to run a theatre like the Uptown means that others could not make a successful go of it. They are no litmus test.

What the Uptown really needs for a successful future must include a "move-over" house. Before the super-short release windows, the Uptown could play a movie a VERY long time (over a year in the case of Star Wars), typically months. The Uptown would outgross most ANY theatre on the titles it ran. Maybe not on the opening weekend where a multiplex, like The Egyptian in Arundel Mills could put a title on several screens...but over the run of the title, the Uptown would overtake them and others. However, for less performing movies, via its chain affiliation, it could move titles over to sites like the Wisconsin Ave Cinemas a short distance away and put the next title in. The Avalon has its own small theatre. The Senator in Baltimore has added two screens in addition to its historic one. The Uptown would need such an expansion to allow the historic theatre to thrive (that an movies people want to see...but that affects us all...let's hope that 2023's movie slate lives up to its potential).

But, if the plans cut up the current theatre, it will just be another facade.

[Geoff Jones]

Steve's suggestions for the Uptown make me wonder two things:

1) Before the pandemic shutdown, the Seattle Cinerama showed a mixture of new releases and classics and didn't seem to be beholden to the same sorts of release contracts that most cinemas are stuck with.They would sometimes show new releases for just a week, and never seemed to get stuck showing any duds. How were they able to get away with it?

2) Why doesn't the industry push for changes to the release contract structure? Why isn't John Fithian out there campaigning for new paradigms? Over the years, I've seen so many magnificent single-screen theaters go out of business, and in many cases, it seemed to be at least partially because of release contracts. (In the summer of 1993, the single-screen Continental was stuck playing So I Married an Ax Murderer for about 75 weeks.)

If the Uptown is beloved by customers for providing a "massive presentation," but is losing money because it gets stuck showing titles long after they stop drawing crowds (or stuck showing titles that aren't drawing crowds), the idea that it needs a "move-over" house to stick those titles in feels completely ass-backwards. It shouldn't be required to show those titles.

If theaters were allowed to book their screens in whatever way would draw the largest crowds, wouldn't that be good for the industry as a whole?

[Sam Chavez]

John Fithian has left the building .

[Steve Guttag]

Showing good movies a long time was never a problem. The problem is, booking. Getting a "hit" is not a sure thing. If you pick your movies poorly or if there are no hits in release, that is when a single just has a ball and chain of rent, electricity and staff that can really hurt. When you have a theatre that, traditionally sat over 1000, you can't have a small staff because when you are busy, turning that room around will require a bit of staff. Furthermore, you have limited time to sell your wares between shows and, again, you are putting many hundreds of people (it was down to about 830 seats when they changed the seating spacing, went to high-backs...etc.). You can't just ramp up on the few days of being busy. You can certainly be seasonal but you can't just have 3 or 4 people and then call on a massive list when you are moving tons of people. It's a delicate balance.

While I was there (18 years or so), it would be a failure of a picture if we couldn't run it over a month. Now, the economics have change a bit over the decades. One was rewarded for running a picture a long time (a sliding scale that favored the theatre the longer you ran the picture). We could get months on a movie.

Now, my day was Saturday (all day) so it was more-busy that many other days of the week so I never saw it very sparse in there and definitely had sell outs (lots of them...for my entire time there). But, if we got a dud, it was quickly shuffled out. If a movie over-performed (The Last Emperor as an example, where it opened in at the Jenifer), we could pull it from another site.

You can talk with Mike about the struggles of booking requirements of being a single in a Montana town.

[Chris Haller]

Regal Henrietta 18 closes its doors tonight after it runs its last shows. This happens to be the theater that I've been working at part time for the last several months.

It was a purpose built 18 screen theater that opened its doors in 2000 at the height of Regal's and the multiplex's expansion. At one point it was the highest grossing theater in the region. Today it closes its doors due to years of neglect from its landlord and Regal themselves; no reclining seats, failing equipment, and a changing marketplace all worked against it after it reopened after the COVID-19 shut down. It was an easy target for closure as part of Cineworld's bankruptcy proceedings.

It also marks the end of Regal's exiting of the Rochester market - Regal Greece, Regal Culver Ridge, and Regal Henrietta have now all closed. Regal Greece will reopen as an Apple Cinemas at some point in the near future. I suspect neither Henrietta or Culver will become anything more than vacant real estate.

[Daniel Fredrickson]

Closing:

Harkins Metrocenter 12 (Phoenix, AZ)

MetrocenterHarkins.jpg?itok=4uyjGGxM.jpg

Sad to see this one go, it was a unique multilevel theater built on a former skating rink. Closed May 2023. The mall is also now closed and being razed.


Opening:

Bodo Cinemas (Boise, ID)

attachment-Photo-Mar-20-2023-8-55-35-PM.jpg?w=1200&h=0&zc=1&s=0&a=t&q=89.jpg

Previously operated by Regal as the Boise Downtown 9. Acquired, remodeled, and re-branded by CinemaWest. Aiming for the upscale dinner-movie audience. Opened sometime between Late March and Memorial Day 2023.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

The Ritz Theater in Tooele, Utah, a single screen 500 seater, has apparently closed for good. Mike also had a drive in but sold that off about a year ago. I serviced the Ritz for a number of years and converted it to digital for him. Kind of sad to see it go because it has some really cool space related paintings inside from the early days of Project Mercury. Strangely, there is a huge military base in Tooele and one would have thought that may have helped... but it did not.

This article is from one of the local Salt Lake City newspapers today.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

The space paintings on the walls in the Ritz Theater Tooele, Utah. (See Post above)

[Martin McCaffery]

Walton Theatre, Selma, AL
Selma Sun
July 14, 2023

Striplin Performing Arts Center, city's only movie theater closed after being declared unsafe

Dallas County lost its only movie theater Friday when the city of Selma ordered the building closed. The building inspector declared the Striplin Performing Arts Center, which houses the Walton Theater, unsafe and ordered it closed until further notice.
The Larry D. Striplin Performing Arts Center has been deemed unsafe by the City of Selma building inspector and is closed immediately until further notice, according to a statement issued Friday.

The Performing Arts Center includes Walton Theater, the city’s only movie theater.

The theater is closed and Walton director John Grayson said it should reopen when repairs can be made. He also said they are looking for ways to still show movies, possibly outdoors, until it can reopen.

Grayson said his wife noticed tiles fell from the ceiling in the girls bathroom and there was a problem with an area of roof “which is back behind the screen that has been damaged for about a month or so now.”

In a statement on Friday, Mayor James Perkins Jr. said portions of the ceiling are falling in.
“In addition to the age of the roof, the constant heavy rains are just taking their toll on our buildings and many of the roofs need to be replaced,“ Public Building Director Stephanie Menifee said in the statement.

We cannot allow another building to go unoccupied and therefore I am moving to declare the repairs an emergency. But I expect it will be expensive,” Perkins said.

Perkins said the condition of the Performing Arts Center is a sign of the city’s need to repair decaying infrastructure. “Every day it is becoming more and more expensive to maintain these old historic structures, and if we are to continue, we simply need more money, or we will need to set course in a new direction.”

Perkins will be presenting a budget to the Selma City Council Monday at 6:30 p.m. in the council chambers. Perkins said in a public hearing earlier this month that he will ask the City Council to hold a special election to increase the city's property tax to give the city more operating money.

Located at 1000 Selma Avenue, the Larry D. Striplin Jr. Performing Art Center was part of a restoration project which encompassed almost an entire city block and included the restoration of the Walton Theater, an abandoned movie theater that had been home to the children of Selma every Saturday afternoon during the 1940s and 1950s, according to the city’s web site.

Walton Theater's weekend movie was to be "Mission Impossible."

Grayson reassured moviegoers that they will work hard to reopen the theater, adding when it is closed “we lose traction. People don’t think about us. Each time we have to shut down it causes us to have to start all over again.”

The Walton was closed for some three weeks after the Jan. 12 tornado, but attendance jumped with the help of some good movies after it reopened, including a good run with the movie The Little Mermaid “which was a big hit for us and we got a little traction back and was happy to get back the attendance. But now we have to shut down because they condemned the building.”

Selma Times Journal
August 10, 1914

The_Selma_Times_Journal_1914_08_10_page_2.jpg