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

[Frank Cox]

https://www.sasktoday.ca/central/loc...g-soon-4526706

Tower Theatre re-opening soon
New ownership upgrading facility
YORKTON - Movie fans will be happy to learn the Tower Theatre in Yorkton will be re-opening.

Under new management – Magic Lantern Theatres -- significant upgrades are currently taking place at the theatre on Second Ave. in the city which closed its doors earlier this year.

“We’re restoring the original building,” Katrina Chapman, operations supervisor on the project explained.

As for how the theatre will operate, Chapman said there “will be no major changes” at least for the initial opening.

The theatre will open with one screen, but Chapman said the new ownership has interest “in a bigger expansion in the next year, or two . . .There is an eye to expansion with additional screens.”

The theatre will be maintaining its familiar name.

“The name has such history, why would we change it,” said Chapman.

In the meantime, theatre goers will be able to enjoy some improved aesthetics including upgraded seats which will include slider seats.

Current work toward opening before December, also includes upgraded sound.

“We’ve upgraded the speakers,” said Chapman.

And, there will be an improved concession area, offered Chapman.

As for what they plan to screen, Chapman said they will be looking to new releases, but added “you’re not going to see every movie with one screen,” and movies might not open locally the day of the release.

“But we’ll try to mitigate that the best we can,” she said.

The company that is doing the work now owns 11 theatres, including the Rainbow in Regina, the Capital in North Battleford, the Aurora in Meadow Lake and the Roxy in Saskatoon.

“We’re really good at this. We serve a lot of rural communities,” said Chapman. “. . .We believe in community management. We want to have a theatre you can be proud of, both us and the community.

This is the "next theatre down the road" from me. It was previously owned by Landmark Cinemas of Canada (the second biggest chain in Canada). Landmark closed it "temporarily" last year and then announced that it was permanently closed this past spring.

[Bobby Henderson]

Starting on Oct. 18, customers will be able to visit the Alamo Drafthouse Lower Manhattan to get their fix of popcorn, buffalo cauliflower and beer while watching the latest blockbuster unfold on the big screen. The soft launch period will run through Oct. 21, a time during which guests will receive special discounts on select food and non-alcoholic beverages while staff members train and find their bearings. Located in the Financial District at 28 Liberty Street, the 14-screen multiplex and 598-seat theater is the company’s third New York-based operation following Yonkers and Brooklyn.

598 seats divided between 14 screens? That works out to roughly 42 to 43 seats per auditorium. Freaking tiny. The IMAX-branded screen at our local 13-plex here in Lawton has nearly that many seats in just that one big room.

Given the location, Lower Manhattan, I would expect ticket prices to be appropriately ridiculous.

It's also interesting to see two different private equity companies have helped dig Alamo Drafthouse out of bankruptcy. There is not telling how that will work out since getting in bed with bean-counting firms like that can be akin to selling your soul to the devil.

[Martin McCaffery]

Alamo has been counting beans for ages. I remember at a conference they were explaining some software they had that kept constant track of the employee to customer ratio. If the ratio was too high, people were sent home. I don't know if they were called back in if the ratio dropped.

[Bobby Henderson]

Here in Lawton, OK the AMC Patriot 13 theater, our only first run theater, was temporarily closed on Saturday, apparently due to a broken water pipe. I had seat reservations to watch Dune on the IMAX-branded screen at the first show Saturday at 4:15pm. The theater was still running a limited number of showtimes. When I arrived at the theater some customers were talking to each other in the front parking lot. Staffers at the entrance laid out the situation: theater closed. No telling when it will re-open. I don't know how bad the situation may be, but one person in the parking lot was talking about the building foundation shifting. If that detail is true this theater will be closed for a long time, or maybe even permanently if the damage is bad enough. AMC seems to be looking for any excuses to close down former Carmike locations. The Patriot 13 is still a relatively new multiplex, but given the limited show time schedule, it wouldn't surprise me if AMC unloaded that site off its hands.

[Mike Croaro]

Landmark Theatres has lost their lease on the California Theatre in Berkeley. The following link leads to the article.

https://www.dailycal.org/2021/10/24/...lease-renewal/

[Martin Brooks]

598 seats divided between 14 screens? That works out to roughly 42 to 43 seats per auditorium. Freaking tiny. The IMAX-branded screen at our local 13-plex here in Lawton has nearly that many seats in just that one big room.

Given the location, Lower Manhattan, I would expect ticket prices to be appropriately ridiculous.

It's also interesting to see two different private equity companies have helped dig Alamo Drafthouse out of bankruptcy. There is not telling how that will work out since getting in bed with bean-counting firms like that can be akin to selling your soul to the devil.

Theater #7 is 184 seats. All the others are small. In their Brooklyn theater, screen #7 is 183 seats and has a pretty large screen and is a very nice auditorium EXCEPT for the fact that there are lights under the tables (for eating) and they're kept on for the entire film which bugged the hell out of me. I don't know if the screen in the Manhattan theater is the same size.

[Mitchell Dvoskin]

In the Alamo Yonkers location, the dim lights under the table bothered me a lot less than the waiters walking back and forth blocking the screen.

The best dine-in theatre design I have encountered for not interfering with the movie is the iPic Cinemas (Fort Lee NJ) and back in the late 1980’s The Cinema Pub in Virginia Beach (Is it still there?).

[Steve Guttag]

Warehouse Cinemas Leitersburg is opening tomorrow (10/29/21). This is the same site, same building as the Leitersburg 10 cinemas that was run by NewVision, High Rock, RC Cinemas and others previously.

They put the Warehouse Cinemas anointments to the space and are updating it in phases. Phase 1 got the 8 smaller cinemas renovated with heated recliners, with the interior of the cinemas getting a whole new look, new screens. Phase 2 will concentrate on the two larger cinemas...which should happen in early 2022.

https://warehousecinemas.com/leitersburg

[Martin Brooks]

The Regal Tangram 4DX 7 is opening on November 12th in a new mixed use Condo / Retail development in Flushing, Queens on 37th Avenue off of College Point Blvd. after a long delay. 7 screens including 1 4DX screen, total of 849 seats (not including wheelchair seats, but including wheelchair companion seats). Screen #3 is the largest auditorium with 157 seats. From November 12-17th, tickets are only $3.

Considering the neighborhood, they really should be dedicating at least one screen to Chinese films.

That brings the total number of commercial theaters in Queens to 12 with 95 screens and about 10,400 seats for a population of about 2.33 million in the borough and 179,000 within Flushing itself.

[Ed Gordon]

Seattle needs a hero to save beloved Cinerama

By The Seattle Times editorial board

King County vaccination rates topping 80%? Check.

Movie theaters open across the region? Affirmative.

Big budget sci-fi epic now on screen? It’s here.

All that’s missing is Cinerama, Seattle’s premier place to watch a movie. For generations, families and film buffs caught the latest blockbuster, cult classic, or festival at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Lenora Street. Its state-of-the-art projection and immersive audio — not to mention iconic chocolate popcorn — promised an experience second to none. This was where “Star Wars” fans camped for weeks before a premiere.

Closed since the pandemic, Cinerama is in limbo. The prospect of this beloved movie house slowly decaying — or worse, going under the wrecking ball — is too horrible to contemplate. Seattle needs a hero to make this right.

The theater is owned by Vulcan, which was founded in 1986 by Paul G. Allen and his sister Jody Allen to “make and leave the world a better place.”

Allen, who died in 2018, was known for his eclectic interests and love of music, history and movies. He purchased Cinerama in 1998. First opened in 1963, it is one of the few remaining cinemas worldwide originally built to showcase three-projector Cinerama technology. It underwent major renovations in 1999, 2010 and 2014.

Where it ranks in Vulcan’s diverse portfolio today is unclear.

In May 2020, Vulcan announced that it was closing its Arts + Entertainment division, as well as its filmmaking entity, Vulcan Productions. Cinerama, which was closed for renovations, was suddenly shuttered “for the foreseeable future.”

Asked about the status of the theater last week, a spokesperson for Vulcan said there was “no news to share at this time.”

Maybe because things are slowly getting back to normal, or maybe it’s the debut of the epic adventure movie “Dune,” but now seems an opportune time to advocate for Cinerama’s resurrection.

A “Save Seattle Cinerama” change.org petition started two weeks ago notes the theater “has been a Seattle institution for over half a century and has offered the city’s most uniquely great movie theater experience since its inception.”

With about 2,000 signatures so far, it calls for Vulcan to invest in the historic theater and get it back up and running. It also wants the Seattle Neighborhoods Department Historic Preservation Program to designate Cinerama a Seattle Landmark, protecting it from demolition.

If this isn’t something Vulcan wants to do, how about someone else giving it a try? A reluctant champion who steps in to save the day, and is owed a debt of gratitude. Sounds like a story made for the big screen.

With a grand reopening, we could mark our 2023 calendars for “Dune: Part Two” where it’s meant to be seen — Cinerama.

TT-160909-220252.jpg

[Scott Jentsch]

The Cinemark Roseville Galleria Mall and XD in Roseville, California (18 miles NE of Sacramento) opened November 11, 2021. Photo Gallery.

Subsequently, the Century Roseville 14 and XD about two miles away closed. It originally opened June 19, 1998 as the Century Roseville 14. Cinemark purchased Century Theatres in 2006. The XD screen was added in 2010.

[Ed Gordon]

A damaged theater in Mayfield Kentucky. I found this photo on CNN this morning. The description provided does not include details. There are only four theaters listed at Cinema Treasures and three of those were closed before the tragic storm struck.

A damaged theater is seen in Mayfield midwest-weather-knetucky-1211.jpg

[Rusty Gordon]

The entire city was wiped off the map. There'd literally be nobody living there to come watch a movie at the Princess Theater anymore. https://www.princessofmayfield.com

[Jim Cassedy]

"Gone Wth The Wind" ?

[Jim Cassedy]

GWTW.jpg
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