(It used to be a Kroger grocery store)

We drove by there this weekend and noticed no listings on the marquee, and two big U-Hauls backed up to the front doors. I pulled in the parking lot and went up to the doors...looked in and they were definetely closed.

There were guys in there removing the projection equipment (All Strong Pro 35's - with consoles and Strong Platters). Instead of moving the equipment down the stairs from the booth, they cut a 6' square hole in the wall and were removing it with a fork lift.

I went inside and asked what would be happening to the equipment and they said it would be used in another theatre.

Subrun theatres have existed since the earliest days of our industry. During the period of the nickelodeons (1908-1920), and even during the twenties there existed numerous runs depending on the size of the release territory. Some large cities had a many as six runs. Most areas had at least three or four runs.

One of the things that seems to surprise a lot of younger (under 40) people in this business is the fact that prior to the multi-plex theatres, in the days of single screens and even during the early transition period when the first twins appeared, first run movies only played in any given town (except large cities) for only one week. They then moved on to the next run, either to the neighborhood houses, or to the surrounding small towns. Occasionally a picture was held over for a 2nd week...and maybe several times a year a blockbuster made it for three weeks!

The release pattern usually worked like this: On national release the picture opened in the larger towns for the one week run. The 2nd runs were on a 28 day release after the first run completed their week. The key neighborhood houses and the larger of the suburban towns then played the picture for two or three days. 14 days after they finished it, it was available to the 3rd runs who again played it for 1, 2 or 3 days, and then 7 days later it was available to the 4th run houses.

The life of a picture was actually longer back then, with all the various runs, then it is today. Of course there was no TV or video except during the later part of that time. It was not unusual for popular pictures to return to the first runs again several months later and go through the entire release pattern again.

There were far more subrun theatres then first run back in those days (prior to 1950). TV pretty much put the cabosh to all that. However, many subrun houses have continued to this very day. Many of the single screen subruns that still exist, have always been subrun...some as long as since the 1920s. They were in business long before any multi-plexes existed. They saw twins, tri-plexes, quads and even multi-plexes come AND go! They are still here with the mega-plexes as well. And considering what is happening in the industry at the present time...some of them will still be around after some of the mega-plexes bite the dust.

Mike Spaeth might want to expand on the differences between running a first-run theater and running a dollar house.

In Northern New Jersey -- from Trenton and Toms River north -- there's only two "pure" subrun theaters, an old single-screen on the Jersey Shore and a twin in Warren County. Two other multiplexes have a hybrid of subrun and Bollywood fare.

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New Line, MGM, Universal, and Fox all do their subrun allocations market-by-market. So, basically, when metro Atlanta first-run houses all drop a film, they open it subrun. Universal does it by a smaller area. I can count on getting a film shortly after the 17-screen down the street loses it.

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I bet if any of those movies had been released direct-to-video without a theatrical release, they would be lucky to get 1/10 the video sales they did. Shortening the theatrical "window" any further may "kill the goose that lays the golden eggs".

It has been 2024 days since the last post.

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