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

[Leo Enticknap]

When I travel, I carry a couple of charging cables for my phones & tablet that only have the power pins wired, and the 'data' pins are dead.

As a variation on that, I carry a "USB condom," together with a fully wired cable. That way, if I actually want the data connection (e.g. to transfer pics from my phone to my laptop while in the field), I can have it, but the same cable with the condom on one end of it allows safe charging at airport and other public USB outlets.

[William Kucharski]

425508167_341724865506381_1207006013752220520_n.jpg

College Point Multiplex, Whitestone, NY.

[Jim Cassedy]

The paranoid me would wonder if the theater can hack the cell phones from those ports.

I used to wonder about that too, when "Free" charging stations started popping up in places
like TARGET, and hotel lobbies, etc. When I travel, I carry a couple of charging cables for
my phones & tablet that only have the power pins wired, and the 'data' pins are dead.

[Steve Guttag]

I know...the problem is, you're going to get that anyway. Furthermore, depending on the laws of your area, you'll go broke accommodating every form of disability. As it is now, what is the ratio of the number of headsets required versus the number used? How many caption displays get destroyed? The technology also goes stale and you end up with an obsolete system that has to be replaced.

Perhaps a solution is to design seats/seat backs such that they hold cell phones, provide power yet direct the screen back to the viewer rather than to the entire crowd.

[Frank Cox]

Then you get people with their cell phone light glaring in the dark auditiorium and you can't tell them to turn it off.

[Steve Guttag]

Then again, I think the future of ADA compliance will be BYOD. This would solve many things...like having enough displays/headsets and sign language devices. Having a place to keep a phone charged would make sense to me. Providing headsets and caption displays is a money losing proposition as well as a frustration for the user when they don't work. Like it or not, ADA type rules will continue to expand to include more forms of disabilities and the cell phone is about as ubiquitous as any device.

[Martin McCaffery]

The paranoid me would wonder if the theater can hack the cell phones from those ports.

[Martin Brooks]

Not really closing, just upscaling and changing name.

Why would you put a USB port into each seat? Won't that just encourage people to use their phones and pads? Terrible idea IMO.

[Ryan Gallagher]

The Eastside Cinema (in collaboration with Blue Starlight Drive In's), Austin, TX.
Part of the Millenium Youth Entertainment Complex.

Grand re-opening was 1/20/2024. 300+ Seat single screen Digital 7.1 and original 35mm capacity. Technically a re-opening of the long shuttered single screen at the east austin youth complex cinema that closed during the transition to digital.

https://www.kvue.com/article/news/lo...c-f9206476dee4

https://www.eastsidecinema.com/

[Harold Hallikainen]

Like this?

[Marcel Birgelen]

Those "modern movie theater amenities" start to look a lot like first-class air-line seat. So, next up is a personal, seat foldable screen and entertainment center with personal headphone jack for everybody. This system will also include a channel on which you can see what the expected end-time of the movie is and what "connecting movies" you can catch in what room once the movie has landed... euhm, ended... (haha, etc.).

[Martin McCaffery]

They didn't actually say anything about showing movies

[Harold Hallikainen]

Not really closing, just upscaling and changing name.

"The theatre will be refurbished with leather electric recliners - each with a USB port - and individual swivel tables for an in-theatre dining experience."

I guess the USB port keeps your phone from going dead as you text during the movie.

[Steve Guttag]

The Cape Square Entertainment complex in Rio Grande, NJ (8-screen theatre with an entertainment center consisting of bowling alley, arcade, sports bar and restaurant) has opened (December 2023). It is the former site of the Franks Rio.

The theatres feature 4K laser projection on all screens with QSYS audio and Dolby Atmos on the largest screen, screen 7. This theatre also has motorized movable masking on all screens too!:

20231115_190314.jpg

The Cape Square Entertainment complex joins the Town Square Theatre chain which has the Harbor Square, Tilton Square and Ventnor Square (all in southern NJ).

https://www.squaretheatres.com/Locat...0Entertainment

[Martin McCaffery]

Not really closing, just upscaling and changing name.

$3.4 million luxury cinema coming to Gadsden Mall later this year

By

• William Thornton | wthornton@al.com

The Premiere LUX Ciné is scheduled to open in the Gadsden Mall in the last quarter of 2024. (Premiere Cinemas)Premiere Cinemas
A $3.4 million luxury cinema will be coming to the Gadsden Mall later this year.

Premiere LUX Cine’ will replace the existing 16-screen Premiere Cinema, which first opened in Gadsden in 2003.

The theatre will be refurbished with leather electric recliners - each with a USB port - and individual swivel tables for an in-theatre dining experience.

An expanded menu will feature new options, such as gourmet burgers and pizza, self-serve beverage stations for unlimited refills, adult drinks and other options.

The development is being funded privately by the Gadsden Mall and Premiere Cinemas, and the Gadsden City Council will vote next week on a sales tax abatement of up to $600,000 over ten years.

Gary Moore, CEO of Texas-based Premiere, said the project had been planned for years but got delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.



“Cinemas have come a long way in 20 years in terms of quality and comfort; we have better technology and more features today than we had back then,” Moore said. “Once we finish with it, Gadsden will have the nicest cinema around. It’s really a new chapter in Gadsden’s entertainment future.”

The theatre’s exterior and interior spaces will also be updated, and the lobby is being rebuilt with guest-interactive systems, such as ticketing kiosks for reserved seating.

Premiere Gadsden’s Director Ada Woodard said the theatre will continue operating without interruption during the upgrades.

“Half the auditoriums are upgraded at a time while the other half stays open, then we switch sides,” she said.

Kaylie Johnson, general manager of Gadsden Mall, said the announcement was “one of the most exciting developments at the mall yet.” A Food City location is set to open at the Gadsden Mall soon.