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Topic: What's the latest theatre to close or open you have heard about? (part 2)
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Mike Rivest
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 185
From: Montréal QC Canada
Registered: Nov 2009
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posted 01-29-2013 04:04 PM
Two more Cinemarks in Pharr, TX and LOOK Cinemas
http://www.themonitor.com/news/local/article_1b8fdc16-6433-11e2-88f3-001a4bcf6878.html
PHARR – Work is under way on the large new Cinemark movie theater in El Centro Mall, after the company won a tussle over competitors last year.
Pharr had months of movie theater wars after both Cinemark and LOOK Cinemas announced within days of each other in March plans to open large new theater complexes on opposite sides of the intersection of Jackson Road and Expressway 83.
“It was an education for me,” City Manager Fred Sandoval said of the issues surrounding competition in the theater industry. “In a nutshell, there’s room for one theater group and Cinemark had started the process before everyone else.”
More than a year of city negotiations with owners of the much-touted LOOK Cinemas — whose project would have included an IMAX theater and several theaters with bars and restaurants included — fell through after the movie house across the street began work.
“It was always kind of a horse race,” Sandoval said. “Cinemark got in the ground first.”
The new Cinemark theater will have 16 screens and a self-serve concession stand. It will also include an XD Extreme Digital Cinema auditorium with the largest screen and highest quality sound system in the complex.
After seeing The Dark Knight Rises in IMAX and Skyfall on a Cinemark XD screen, the city manager isn’t playing favorites.
“The experience is very comparable,” he said.
Cinemark expecting to begin construction soon and hopes to have it open within the year, said James Meredith, vice president of marketing and communications.
The theater will be Pharr’s first first-run movie theater. It will replace the Cinemark Movies 8 in El Centro, which shows movies months after their release and is known for its affordable $1.50 pricing.
“We’ve been in the community for over 22/23 years,” Meredith said of Pharr. “Our existing theater has aged and it’s time to bring the new technology.”
The project is one of two new area Cinemarks to come, along with a “bistro” concept that will be built just four miles up Jackson Road in the unfinished Alamo Drafthouse shell in Edinburg.
LOOK Cinemas is building a new cinema in Dallas
http://www.lookcinemas.com/
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Jim Cassedy
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1661
From: San Francisco, CA
Registered: Dec 2006
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posted 01-30-2013 01:45 PM
quote: Mike Croaro
Landmark Theatres reports that their San Francisco Bridge theatre will close at the end of the bisness day 12/27. There was also an article in the SF Examiner.
Will the theatre really close, or is Landmark playing the "rel estate" game with the landlord. Anyone with inside informaton?
This reply is a little overdue, but "yes" The Bridge Theater
did ineed close several days after Christmas.
It was an 'open secret' in the SF Cinema community since
summer Y2k12 that Landmark was not going to renew their lease.
I'm aware that several alternate operators have looked into the
site, but the story I've heard as recently as several days ago
is that the landlord is asking an 'outrageous' price to lease.
Several days after it closed, there was a huge dumpster in front
of the building, filled with debris. I was later told by an ex
employee who helped close down the buidling that all the
equipment and the interior are still intact, and that the
dumpster was just there to remove years of accumulated
clutter from the outgoing tennant.
Sometime last weekend, some person(s) got up on top of the
marquee & graffitied up the whole front of the building, which
is going to cost someone several thousand dollars to remove or
paint over, making it somewhat of an eysore, but not as bad as
the long closed ALEXANDRIA theater, which is generally
acknowleged as one of the worst urban eyesores in The City now.
Here Are Some Pictures I Took Late Last Fall:
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Michael Coate
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1904
From: Los Angeles, California
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 02-01-2013 09:05 PM
Army Times
quote:
Digital age prompting closure of base theaters
By Dirk Lammers - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Jan 20, 2013 16:23:38 EST
ELLSWORTH AIR FORCE BASE, S.D. — Stacey Darling loves watching family movies at the Ellsworth Air Force Base theater in South Dakota because it’s so much more affordable than taking her three children to the multiplex in nearby Rapid City.
Darling, whose husband is an airman, has been catching second-run films on base for about 2 1/2 years, and was there Saturday for the theater’s last showing — a screening of the animated movie “Hotel Transylvania.” The movie theater is among 60 around the globe run by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service that is screening its last picture show amid the industry’s conversion to digital projection.
“We always come out for the cartoons,” said Darling, of Grand Forks, N.D. “We like the family movies.”
Darling said she wishes she could go to the theater even more now that her husband, Senior Master Sgt. David Darling, has deployed to southwest Asia.
It’s just not cost effective for the exchange service to invest the $120,000 per theater needed to convert from 35 millimeter film to the new format at the theaters that are being closed, said spokesman Judd Anstey. Sixty theaters will make the upgrade.
“At locations where customer attendance is decreased due to a preference for off-installation entertainment venues, a determination has been made that continued operation is no longer a viable option,” Anstey said.
The exchange service runs department-store-style retail outlets, fast-food restaurants, barbers and similar services on military facilities.
Saturday’s “Hotel Transylvania” screening at Ellsworth Air Force Base drew about 250 people, thanks in part to the theater forgoing the admission price for its farewell flick.
Teri Marino wishes Ellsworth patrons knew earlier about the closure so they could try to raise the cash needed to save the theater, which showed its first flick in 1969.
Marino, whose husband is a master sergeant living on base, brought her 9-year-old daughter to the final show and was enjoying the camaraderie between the mothers.
“When you’re in the military, you’re like family,” said Marino, 37. “Especially when our husbands are deployed, the mothers — us women — stick together.”
Stateside base theaters are limited to second-run movies, which typically have already spent six weeks in an off-base multiplex before. Ticket prices are lower, as is attendance. Base theaters have also been hurt by increased competition from video streaming services and DVD rental kiosks, Anstey said.
“The digital age has certainly made it easier to stay home and get content delivered directly to one’s own living room,” he said. “In addition, the theater business has become more competitive with multiplex and IMAX theaters in many locations adjacent to military installations.
Of the theaters making the conversion to the digital format, about 26 are in the U.S. and about 34 are overseas for a total cost of about $7.4 million, Anstey said.
Camp Zama in Japan, Spangdahlem Air Force Base in Germany, Camp Arifjan in Kuwait and Fort Hood in Texas are the first four to make the jump, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2013, Anstey said.
David Burnett, force support squadron commander for the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth, said base officials are working to ensure other movie options, such as more DVD kiosks and an arrangement with Carmike Cinemas in Rapid City for a military discount.
He said the theater has been an important spot for on-base families, especially those living in the dorms.
“It gives them an outlet,” Burnett said. “It gives them something to do.”
Ron Reynolds, who was stationed on the base years ago, has served as the theater’s projectionist for more than a decade.
He loads a reel on one of the twin projectors before briefly turning down the upstairs room’s speaker to make sure the sound is at its best.
“Projectionist is one of the greatest part-time jobs you’ll ever have,” said Reynolds, 49. “Sadly, all good things must come to an end.”
Reynolds’ son, 29-year-old Tyler Murphy, remembers seeing “Titanic” at Ellsworth as a teenager.
“This is a little bit of a nostalgic type of moment,” said Murphy, now a teacher at Sturgis Brown High School. “It’s never going to be the same anymore.”
Las Cruces Sun-News
quote:
Lights out for Cannon air base's movie theater
By The Associated Press
Posted: 01/30/2013 07:08:42 AM MST
CANNON AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. - It will be lights out this weekend for the movie theater at Cannon Air Force Base in eastern New Mexico.
Army and Air Force theaters that use 35 mm prints have been undergoing extensive reviews to determine whether it would be worth it to convert to digital formats.
As for Cannon's theater, it would cost about $120,000 to go digital.
Officials say continued operation of the theater isn't viable given the cost and the availability of off-base entertainment venues.
The Cannon theater is among dozens around the globe run by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service that are screening their last movies amid the industry's conversion to digital projection.
The last showing at the Cannon theater will be Saturday.
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Mike Blakesley
Film God
Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 02-13-2013 03:04 PM
The 3-plex in Laurel Montana is opening on the 14th with a coffee-house addition. They have chosen the improbable name "The VUE and Brew" (the former name was the Laurel Movie Haus, owing to the town's strong German heritage). I think they have a lot to learn about the movie biz -- such as, only being open 4 days a week is a mistake in my opinion, for a town of nearly 10,000 people -- but they have a good booker (same one we use) so hopefully they'll be OK. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
A NEW VUE
Movie Haus renamed; Grand opening planned for Valentine’s Day
Welcome to the The VUE and Brew, Laurel’s home of the hottest new movie releases, specialty coffees, and three brand new digital projectors shipped from Belgium.
In late December, business partners Kris and Beth Vogele and Dr. Bob and Chris Ulrich launched a contest to rename the revitalized Laurel Movie Haus, 101 West First St. The contest generated hundreds of community suggestions on the theater’s Facebook page and Tuesday, Kris Vogele released the facility’s new moniker.
“The name VUE came from Dr. Ulrich’s son, Thomas. He came up with that name for our official LLC — Vogele-Ulrich Enterprises,” explained Vogele. “‘The VUE and Brew Theater’ was proposed by Brad Kraft. He’s the winner of the $100 gift certificate to a Laurel-area restaurant of his choice.”
Crowd-sourcing ideas for the new name, and even snack preferences, are in line with the team's business philosophy.
“We want to be customer-focused. We want to find out what our regular patrons want,” said Vogele. “Input on the name, I think, was important because we were doing away with a name that was a part of the community for many years, even though it wasn’t the original theater.”
“We are using some other names that people gave for some speciality drinks once we open the coffee shop,” said Vogele. “There were some pretty cool names.”
The name announcement came only a week before the theater’s grand opening, slated for Valentine’s Day, Thursday, Feb. 14.
Tuesday morning Vogele, his brother-in-law, and a specialist installed three Barco DP2K-23B digital projectors. Suited for screens up to 75 feet, the projectors’ amazing image quality with an easy-to-use modular design are capable of displaying 2D and 3D films. Each unit weighs 293 pounds, is mounted on a pedestal, and has touch panel operation.
“It’s night and day compared to 35 mm film,” said Vogele.
“No scratches, no dirty prints, no picture jumps. These will put on a perfect picture 99.99 percent of the time,” said Roger Bockert, an installation technician from Heartland Theatre Services, of Council Bluffs, IA, who assisted with set-up.
Not only is the picture of such great clarity, but the labor costs to run digital are lower and will qualify The VUE and Brew for first-run movies, said Vogele.
“Setting up a film does not take nearly as long with digital as it did with film. They (the studios) send us a hard drive and each one has a unique key so it can only be run between the dates they set it up for,” explained Vogele.
The digital projectors are expected to last at least 10 years.
“And they’re upgradable, as are the servers for increased speed,” he noted. “The cost was a little bit more than if we’d waited a few months, but for us it was more important to get the theater open. With these and the point-of-sale system we’re using, it’s very close to $200,000.”
Switching to digital has been a financial stumbling block for small theaters across the nation, so much so for Laurel’s theater that it closed in October 2012. The Vogeles and Ulrichs think they will find success by offering the best prices around.
Movie studios/film distributors in the U.S. traditionally drive hard bargains entitling them to a significant portion of gross ticket revenue. Consequently, Vogele said, The VUE and Brew’s ticket prices will be comparable to Billings theaters, but still competitive.
“If the other theaters out there are charging $9.50, $10, obviously they’re going to get the studios to give them the movies before us,” explained Vogele. “So, we have to keep our box office prices competitive, but also somewhat comparable, or else we’re going to be stuck in that whole second-run movie thing again.”
Regular admission for adults is $8.50, and matinees are $7.50. Regular children’s admission is $6, and matinees are $5. Senior citizens are admitted for $7 for every show. Students are admitted to any show for $7.50 with a current student ID.
“The key is diversification, and it’s that way in any business. You’ve got to have more revenue streams than just a movie theater in a community like Laurel, being so close to Carmike Theaters,” explained Vogele. “I think our key is keeping our costs below other theaters and people will want to purchase concessions. Our prices will be significantly lower than Billings’ in terms of concessions.”
The VUE and Brew will be open Wednesday through Sunday with evening shows and matinees on the weekends. Look for movie theater favorites in the concessions — popcorn, nachos, and boxed candy priced between $2 and $6 — plus healthier options like trail mix, nuts, and juice.
The coffee house will officially open March 1, with hours seven days per week. Vogele said it will offer desserts and specialty coffees, available for delivery in the downtown area. Prices range from $1.50 for house coffee to $4 for a large espresso or a dozen fresh mini donuts.
“We want to be a place people come to, where they feel comfortable. We want to be a special place where people can come and relax, have a cup of coffee, and see a movie,” he said.
Original article from the Laurel Outlook newspaper (with a picture of their projectors)
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![[dlp]](graemlins/dlp.gif)
a year or two ago.
![[thumbsup]](graemlins/thumbsup.gif)
I was quite fond of the Chestnut Hill theater. Unfortunately AMC hadn't really maintained the place terribly well the last few years. I'm happy I was able to get at least a few 
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