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Author
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Topic: What's the latest theatre to close or open you have heard about?
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John Wilson
Film God
Posts: 5438
From: Sydney, Australia.
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 01-19-2011 05:50 PM
Greater Union will close their two-screen cinema in the Sydney North Shore suburb of Mosman on Australia Day.
I worked there in the late 80's / early 90's. In its time it was a great place to see movies, but the screens were always too big for the clients they were trying to attract and the movies they showed. Rumours of its demise have been around for almost 15 years so it's not exactly a shock.
Mosman Daily Article
Cinema closure secrecy
19 JAN 11 @ 09:31AM BY BOEL ERIKSSON
Greater Union Cinema is closing down on Australia Day.
Picture: DAVE SWIFT
THE future of the Greater Union Mosman cinema site is shrouded in mystery, with management refusing to comment on anything relating to the imminent closure of the only cinema in Mosman.
Greater Union Mosman, which has operated on Spit Rd since 1988, will close its doors for good on Australia Day.
A notice put up at the cinema last week informed patrons that “a business decision had to be made on the viability of the cinema”.
It stated that the closure was announced with “great sadness”.
Will you miss the cinema? What would you like to see on the site? Comment below.
When the Daily asked Greater Union owner Amalgamated Holdings Limited spokeswoman Kristie Atkins why it was closing, if staff would get offered positions at other Greater Union cinemas, and if the cinema was closing down before the site was sold due to non-profitability, she refused to comment.
Several emails and phone messages to Ms Atkins were not answered or returned.
An email from Greater Union management, which was sent to a cinema patron and forwarded to the Daily, confirmed that “the company has made a business decision to close due to non-profitability”.
Mosman Council general manager Viv May said there had been “several discussions” between staff and the cinema owners regarding future uses of the site over the past 18 months.
However he would not reveal any details.
He said the council’s vision for the site included the creation of a ground floor bus bay and a possible mixed-use apartment block.
As outlined in its new local environment plan the council plans to increase the floor-space ratio, in exchange for a bus bay being incorporated into any future redevelopment of the site.
The larger ratio would allow for extra height on the building.
“It’s an incentive for potential developers to consider creating the bus bay there,” Mr May said.
The bus bay would allow buses to pull over off the main road, drop off and pick up passengers, then re-enter the traffic lane on Spit Rd.
“There is a pinch-point along that section of road near Spit Junction - a bus bay would allow express buses to keep travelling,” Mr May said.
Don Adan Coffeeshop co-owner Sharon Barrios said she first heard about the closure about three weeks ago.
“We have never relied on that trade, we sort of have our own little following, but I’m sure we will feel it,” she said.
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John Wilson
Film God
Posts: 5438
From: Sydney, Australia.
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 01-23-2011 10:00 PM
The text Mike's post links to two posts above...
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The Toronto-based company is expanding with several more theaters.
TORONTO – Good news at the boxoffice has Canadian exhibition giant Cineplex Entertainment ramping up its multiplex construction.
Toronto-based Cineplex unveiled plans for three theaters Thursday, each with digital technology, with RealD 3D screens and UltraAVX auditoriums.
The chain will build an 11-screen multiplex in Abbotsford, British Columbia, another 11-screen venue in Edmonton, Alberta, and a seven-screen multiplex in Chatham, Ontario.
The three venues, to open between fall 2011 and spring 2012, will feature bells and whistles that Cineplex earlier launched with success in major urban markets, including Toronto.
These include UltraAVX auditoriums with super-sized screens, Dolby digital 7.1 surround sound, bigger chairs and reserved seating.
Cineplex, which runs 132 theatres with 1,366 screens countrywide, has benefited from increased interest in 3D movies, as just over 25% of its screens now have digital projection, and 22% are 3D capable.
At the same time, the real driver for the Canadian exhibition giant and rival cinema chains domestically has been a string of strong Hollywood movie releases, which have lifted theatre attendance and earnings, despite the economic downturn.
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Frank Angel
Film God
Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 01-24-2011 02:12 AM
Tom Sez: quote:
Who's says old theatres are dead?
Humber Cinemas ressurected from the dead.
I said it in a another thread that one of my favorite names for a theatre was the "Humber Cinemas" which was located next to the Humber River. Well, the theatre is set to re-open as the crews are busy getting the cinema ready for a grand opening.
<>
This is such great news for cinema fans, theatre owners and those who believe the actual character of the cinema makes a difference.
Tom, is this a single screen house? If it is, let's hope they don't decide it would be better reopening it as, oh, I don't know.....a 10plex or a 20plex, as is the trend.
I am glad you used the word CHARACTER. There was a time when theatre chains and even smaller independents (and there were a lot of them) understood that The Movies were the product of Hollywood; the theatre environment was the product of the exhibitor. In the days of the Golden Age of The Great Movie Palaces, every theatre, even those in small, backwater towns had their own look and feel....yes, I call it "character." You could be sitting in almost any theatre and you knew which one it was. They weren't cookie-cutter assembly line operations each one indistingushable from the next. Even the "small" (700 seat) sweet local College Theatre in Bryan-College Station where I first paid my dues as a kid (and loved every minute of it) was unique. It even had a crying room in the back. Sadly nowadays, even NEW builds are faceless, same, same, same. They are assembly-line, characterless, anonymous -- you could almost be in any one of dozens and dozens of them and not know what theatre you were in -- rampant boredom.
So for a bit of fresh air, check out some of these historic pics and ads -- of special note, the managers/owners signed their names to these hype pieces; imagine that! It was indicative of the times -- the films were almost secondary; there is palpable pride on the part of management in the stature of their venues.
Check out these spectacular marquees:
And in TODD-AO ![[thumbsup]](graemlins/thumbsup.gif) And a transparant marquee insert made specifically for that theatre. Even the second run theatres on 42nd St had individually designed inserts for each marquee and theatre entrance, almost always with relief cuts of the title text and stars' images that stood out from the background. And they were had to be constructed for EACH and EVERY engagement. It was like creating elaborate standees that fit into the marquee frames!
I LOVE this one -- they are calling a 1700 seat theatre intimate! Again, there are the CEOs names right in the ad quite different from today where most managers seem to want to run and hide from customers....I've encountered at least one who, when I asked his name, refused to give it to me. And again, the obvious hyping of the VENUE over the film title.
Truly a different era.
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Tom Petrov
Five Guys Lover
Posts: 1121
From: El Paso, TX
Registered: Jan 2003
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posted 01-24-2011 04:24 AM
quote: Frank Angel
Tom, is this a single screen house? If it is, let's hope they don't decide it would be better reopening it as, oh, I don't know.....a 10plex or a 20plex, as is the trend.
I am glad you used the word CHARACTER.
Frank. Thanks for replying, the theatre is a two plex. Bottom cinema with a cinema on top, two candy bar, small little box office, cool stair case and a washroom upstairs and one downstairs. I am assuming the theatre was once a balcony cinema way back in the day.
The theatre used to compete with another cinema at the other end of the street call the The Runnymede, the theatres were separated by subway stops. The Runnymede was always a two plex converted from a balcony cinema. (I remember seeing Green Card, FreeJack, Accidental Tourist in cinema 2 while I saw Ranson, Fugitive, Star Trek V, Forever Young, Mr Hollands Opus, in cinema 1)
quote: Frank Angel
the theatre environment was the product of the exhibitor
I am surprised the theatre chains have not gone back to this. I love the character of a a cinema and people are shocked when they find out that I will drive out of my way to see a movie in a certain cinema. I will often walk around the entire complex checking things out and the overall design and build of the theatre.
For some reason, I really like old "mall" theatres like the Jackson Square in downtown Hamilton.
I will admit, out of the two big chains in my area Cineplex/AMC, at least the AMC theatres are not exact replicas of the other one's in town.
Thanks for the pics of the old ads Frank.
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