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

[Sean Falk]

Remember those big openings, like AMC opening 74 theatres the same day in Kansas City on December 19th, 1997? Also, Dickinson opened their Great Mall 18 and ACT III's Kansas City 18 the same year.
AMC triple opening 1997 12 19.jpg

I might have seen Mousehunt at barryroad 24 when it came out, I still love that theatre

[Mike Rivest]

Studio Movie Grill declared bankruptcy closing locations in

• Scottsdale AZ,
• Glendale, CA,
• Alpharetta (Atlanta) GA,
• Dallas (NW Highway),
• Colleyville, TX,
• Lewisville, TX,
• Houston (Copperfield), and
• Hampton, VA.

Also Regal closed the Hollywood 18 in Huntsville, Alabama.

[Martin McCaffery]

Regal Hollywood 18, Huntsville, AL torn down
https://www.al.com/life/2021/01/hunt...es-remain.html

[Jim Cassedy]

Another One Bites The Dust:
The Historic West Portal Theater In San Francisco Is Closing Permanently, Due To The Cronapacoplyse

WestPortalCineArts.jpg

The Bay Area’s arts and culture scene has suffered another casualty as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic: the permanent closure of the West Portal CinéArts movie theater.

San Francisco’s CinéArts at the Empire was a beloved neighborhood venue. It opened as the Portal Theatre in 1925 and has been in operation ever since, renamed as the Empire in 1936. In 2003, under parent company Cinemark, it was rechristened CinéArts at the Empire. A representative for Cinemark said the decision to close the theater was made because the lease term was coming to an end.

“It adds to the symbiotic quality of the neighborhood,” said Maryo Mogannam, president of the San Francisco Council District Merchants Association and longtime business owner in West Portal. “Losing it I think is impactful and I would urge whoever it is who has authority to find a replacement theater operator whether it be independent or a large chain.”

The city’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development is looking for a new tenant to occupy the Empire Theater, according to aides for Supervisor Myrna Melgar.

Bay Area movie theaters have struggled during the pandemic. Most have remained shut for indoor screenings over the past year, while some have accommodated outdoor screenings and events. CinéArts has been closed since the original shelter-in-place orders came down in March of last year.
In October, CinéArts at the Empire joined a group of prominent movie theaters in the city refusing to reopen due to restriction by the Department of Public Health. At the time, indoor screenings could resume at 25% capacity without concessions, but some larger theater venues said this was an “insurmountable” limitation on their businesses. After shelter-in-place restrictions were reinstated by Mayor London Breed in December, movie theaters that had reopened were forced to shutter once more.

While some independent theaters like the Roxie and Balboa Theater have survived on outdoor and virtual screenings, it remains to be seen if movie theaters can withstand the fallout of the pandemic. So far, other permanent closures have yet to be announced.


“I’ve been going there since I was a little kid,” Mogannam said of the Empire. “People in the neighborhood like to spend time there. I’m really just so sad about it.”

[Terry Monohan]

Thanks Jim for the info. It will be hard to find another movie company to go in this SF 3 plex with the brand new ready to open Regal 12 Stonestown Theatre going in about a mile away from the now closed up Empire Theatre. While the large downstairs part is a nice size the two former loge area spaces are bad news. Small screens and the seats face the wrong angle with sound leakage.

Some of the local business people tell me a fancy gym may be eyeing the place like they have taken over the former Alhambra Theatre on Polk St and the Metro Theatre Union ST in SF. Both still kept their large neon marquee lit up.

I hope It can remain a movie theatre or some form of entertainment like a supper show bar club, comedy, or music live event space.

If It opens again as a movie theatre like if the Vogue/Balboa Theatre people in SF can get a new lease It will have to run as a retro type place. Nice If they can tear down the back balcony wall and make the former Empire Cinema one large cinema. .

The area around this closed cinema is very high priced and local people love to spend money local. So lets hope It does not meet the wreckers ball and turned into more SF condos!

[Mike Croaro]

Too bad about the Cinearts @ Empire. Landmark should go into the Empire.

[Leo Enticknap]

Studio Movie Grill declared bankruptcy closing locations in...

I wonder what this means for their Redlands, CA (former Krikorian) site. It was a 1980s time warp until around 2-3 years ago when SMG took it over from Krikorian, and then they immediately poured a lot of money into refurbishing it. Everyone was pleasantly surprised at this investment locally, because the railroad station next door is in the process of being reopened, and there was talk of demolishing the movie theater and turning it into a parking lot for rail commuters, or a train maintenance depot. As of now, it's still standing, but closed, and the railroad is allegedly reopening early next year.

[Martin McCaffery]

The Eastdale Mall 8 in Montgomery, AL is scheduled to re-open in March (though this is their third reopening announcement since COVID). It will be operated by the company that bought Goodrich in bankruptcy, Mason Asset Management and Namdar Realty Group (who specialize in buying distressed malls). They have apparently redone everything, including seats, which would be a necessity after years of Carmike neglect and then the fly-by night operators who had the theatres for two months a few years ago.

If they manage to run AMC out of town, that would be interesting. A question I've been tossing about lately is, are the mega-plexes dinosaurs after COVID? Will there be business to justify 16-20+ screens, or are we looking at a return of 4-8 screens as the new normal?

[Terry Monohan]

I think a smart movie theater circuit with huge multiplex space needs to think into the future when they do if ever re open soon.

It may be time in this day and age to convert some of the auditoriums to other entertainment ideas like a comedy club, black light bowling with arcade space in the lobby, music events, tiki bar with plenty of waterfalls/ trees tropical drinks and food you can't get at the candy counter to enjoy before a movie starts ,or just plain rental for touring acts in town.

These special non movie areas need to be spaced away from films being shown for sound leakage problems.

Be creative and computer streaming people will come out of their homes to be entertained!

Most lame American movie circuits won't look into the future and wonder why they keep on loosing money year after year. just showing movies that are only popular for a few weeks and cinemas empty during the mid week!

[Mike Rivest]

In NYC, the Concourse Plaza Multiplex Cinemas has closed leaving the Bronx with only one cinema complex left. http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/43139
NA Concourse Plaza 1991 06 28.JPG

[William Kucharski]

The articles on the Alamo Drafthouse bankruptcy state:

The Alamo Drafthouse Ritz in downtown Austin, as well as locations in New Braunfels and Kansas City, Missouri, will be permanently closed. All other theaters that are currently open will continue to be open in accordance with local pandemic guidelines, the company said.

Though they also state:

Alamo said it will continue to evaluate all its leases during the bankruptcy process to determine additional lease terminations and to decide which locations will be part of the future business.

Here in the Denver area, only their smallest multiplex of three (including a huge new theater that opened last year) is currently open.

https://www.statesman.com/story/news...ic/6901907002/

[Leo Enticknap]

In other words, and doubtless as SMG did in the fall, they're using Chapter 11 as a bargaining chip with landlords and other stakeholders to try to get a better deal. Not surprising. The airlines did this when some of them went Chapter 11 in the aftermath of 9/11 and then again in the late '00s recession, using the process to offload 30-year old leased planes back to their owners, terminate loss-making routes, and get subsidies for others. Fingers crossed that as many as possible of ADH's sites make it to reopening.

[Frank Cox]

Bankrupt used to mean bust, out of business, piecing out and auctionioning of the assets underway.

Now it seems to be a legal strategy to throw loans and leases overboard, maybe lay off a bunch of staff, and then carry on with business as usual afterward. It isn't often that bankrupt actually means gone, it just leaves a lot of people holding the bag.

[Geoff Jones]

AMC is apparently opening a new cinema in Denver tomorrow, in a redeveloped area at 9th Avenue and Colorado Boulevard known as "9+CO." The theater will have the magnificently awful name "AMC 9+CO 10."

According to 9 News, AMC 9+CO 10 will include "the latest features for the moviegoing experience:"

• AMC Signature plush, power recliners.
• Heated seating.
• Online ticketing, reserved seating and ticketless entry.
• Dolby Cinema at AMC.
• AMC Feature Fare menu.
• AMC MacGuffins adult beverage concept.
• Mobile Food & Beverage Ordering.
• Private Theatre Rentals at AMC.
• AMC Safe & Clean policies and protocols.

There is NO WORD YET on whether or not AMC has figured out how to construct an auditorium with aisle lights that don't shine across the bottoms of their screens...

Perhaps that is a trade secret that other cinemas have kept masterfully hidden from AMC (and Regal)?

[Leo Enticknap]

Bankrupt used to mean bust, out of business, piecing out and auctionioning of the assets underway.

Now it seems to be a legal strategy to throw loans and leases overboard...

I think the latter definition is pretty much unique to the USA, though I may be wrong. A "Chapter 11 [Title 11, United States Code] bankruptcy" is a procedure whereby a business is granted legal protection from its creditors by a court while it is reorganized in order to be viable again. The safeguard against abuse is that a judge has to approve the application for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and also to approve the major reorganization steps that are taken. That judge is not supposed to approve throwing any obligations overboard that the business can meet while still remaining viable. That's the theory, anyways.

Chapter 7 is bankruptcy as the rest of the world understands the term: the winding up and liquidating of a business that is no longer viable, and the distribution of its remaining assets to its creditors. One important difference, as I understand it, is that only the business itself can file Chapter 11, whereas creditors of a business that are owed money by it can ask a court to declare it Chapter 7 bankrupt.