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

[Steve Guttag]

• Frederick, MD: Warehouse Cinemas Now Open

Tagging onto Scott's post. Not only has it opened, It just got a visit from the Governor of Maryland and presented the official Governor's citation:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...06120006099404

Warehouse Cinemas - September 24, 2020
Today I presented an official governor’s citation to the team at Warehouse Cinemas in Frederick, which recently opened its doors with thorough health and safety protocols to keep moviegoers safe. The state-of-the-art theater will be a cornerstone of the revitalization of Frederick’s Golden Mile.

Not bad, considering the Governor had kept theatre's closed until essentially Tenet opened.

[Martin McCaffery]

As noted below, New Visions is out of business and in liquidation. So the New Visions Chantilly (formerly Carmike) in Montgomery, AL and the Prattville, AL Promenade (formerly O'Neills then Carmike) are both closed and out of business until AMC decides what to do with them.

[Russ Levinson]

Closed permanently during the pandemic:
Franklin Square Cinemas - Franklin Square, NY
Squire Cinemas - Great Neck, NY
Island Cinemas - Mastic, NY
Showroom Cinemas - Asbury park, NJ
Showroom Cinemas - Bradley Beach, NJ
Bow Tie Cinemas - Mt Kisko, NY
Bow Tie Cinemas - Tenafly, NJ
Westwood Cinemas - Westwood, NJ
Ramsey Cinema - Ramsey, NJ
Bow Tie Caldwell Cinemas - Caldwell, NJ
Bow Tie Claridge Cinema 6 - Claridge, NJ
Empire Columbia Park 12 - North Bergen, NJ
Vellagio Cinemas - Tampa, FL
Tower Cinemas - Cleveland, OH

[Scott Jentsch]

Recent openings:

• Frederick, MD: Warehouse Cinemas Now Open
• Oklahoma City, OK: Flix Brewhouse - Oklahoma City Now Open
• Fort Worth, TX: Studio Movie Grill - Chisholm Trail Opening August 28, 2020

Recent closings:

• Yankton, SD: AMC Classic Yankton 5 Closed
• New York, NY: The Landmark at 57 West Closes, Less Than Three Years After Opening
• Big Rapids, MI: AMC Classic Big Rapids 4 Closed
• Artesia, NM: AMC Classic Artesia 2 Closed

[Terry Monohan]

Coming soon after a long delay Regal Theatres will be back in San Francisco CA to re place It's tired old UA Stonestown Twin next door The new Regal Stonestown 12 will be the first new cinema built in San Francisco in many years. This will be SF's first Screen X auditorium along with the large curved RPX screen.

With plenty of outdoor free parking this brand new cinema is away from downtown SF and built on the former Macy's at Stonestown Mall near the Sunset/Parkside ocean part of SF.

We welcome the new Regal movie experience with some competition for Cinemark/Century and AMC Theatres.

[Martin Brooks]

o

In New York City, the Landmark 57th West will not reopen (at least not under Landmark) after only three years in operation, which is possibly 2 1/2 years too long. If Manhattan ever had a cinema built with a curse on it, it was this place. Way at the end of 57th Street at 11th Avenue, the theatre had no easily accessed public transportation nearby, was foolishly expensive and had the most uncomfortable seats I have ever sat in, ones that forced you to recline whether you wanted to or not. The projection and sound were nothing special. This place was right across the street from my former office and I was very excited to see it built, but after a few bad experiences, including one roaring backache, I hardly went. Apparently the closing is over a rent dispute, but from what I could see it never did much business.

I never saw a film there, but I was shocked at how small the theaters were and because they had so few seats, I couldn't imagine how they could ever made any money. Seat counts were 19, 22, 25, 34, 48, 75, 164 and 171. The old Sunshine on Houston St. had 600 seats over 5 screens with half those seats on one screen.

[Mark Ogden]

In New York City, the Landmark 57th West will not reopen (at least not under Landmark) after only three years in operation, which is possibly 2 1/2 years too long. If Manhattan ever had a cinema built with a curse on it, it was this place. Way at the end of 57th Street at 11th Avenue, the theatre had no easily accessed public transportation nearby, was foolishly expensive and had the most uncomfortable seats I have ever sat in, ones that forced you to recline whether you wanted to or not. The projection and sound were nothing special. This place was right across the street from my former office and I was very excited to see it built, but after a few bad experiences, including one roaring backache, I hardly went. Apparently the closing is over a rent dispute, but from what I could see it never did much business.

[Marcel Birgelen]

I totally agree with you and I think it helps to look at what's coming, not only with the fear we're probably all feeling, but also with a bit of open-minded spirit for new opportunities. The coming months will probably be a watershed moment for the entire industry, as discussed in several other topics already. I hope you find a way to somehow continue what you're doing and at least keep the place around as a place that actually shows movies.

Regarding those ads: Big players often buy packages for months in advance, as you often get huge discounts that way. They usually regularly refresh their ads, but when the TV or radio station don't receive any new material, they'll just continue playing the old ones, until they get the message from an authorized figure to stop it. The situation with all kinds of billboards is about the same. There are plenty of billboards around here, still advertising some long-canceled events, yet nobody has invested the money to remove them.

[Martin McCaffery]

Marcel, right now everything is up in the air. Our whole business model is up for consideration. As is that of all the distributors. I see plenty of changes in our future.

[edited to add] My assistant tells me the radio station she listens to is still playing "Come See the Big D" ads for the local New Vision. I guess they did a bulk buy and never cancelled.

[Marcel Birgelen]

New Vision getting out of the business makes sense in that they were a group set up by investors, not movie people. I really expected them to start flipping the theatres much sooner. If both AMC and New Vision call it quits, we'll be the only theatre in Montgomery. I don't expect it to last long, but hey, bragging rights.

So, would you consider running some first-run fare if that would actually happen?

[Steve Guttag]

The facelift was in 2015 so it is very recent. It just isn't going to draw huge crowds, geographically as a small single.

[Martin McCaffery]

New Vision getting out of the business makes sense in that they were a group set up by investors, not movie people. I really expected them to start flipping the theatres much sooner. If both AMC and New Vision call it quits, we'll be the only theatre in Montgomery. I don't expect it to last long, but hey, bragging rights.

Re: Waynesboro, PA - Jeez, it is hard to think of a 1970 theatre as a classic old theatre, but it's fifty damn years old. Good luck to them. [Cinematours says they're from 1966 and formerly a Jerry Lewis Theatre. I guess that is a sort of historic claim. Looks like they've had a nice facelift sometime in the last 20 years.]

[Scott Jentsch]

According to one article I've found so far, New Vision Theatres appears to be getting out of the business:

New Vision Theaters Fitchburg IMAX to close

Adam Hasz said the company has “been trying for months to renegotiate leases and this and that but they could just never agree to anything. So, they just decided as a company, it was best at this time to shut down.”

Hasz said the company will shut down all 18 of its theaters nationwide.

[Steve Guttag]

I don't know if New Vision Theatres as a company is done (their web site wasn't working when I just checked) but the Leitersburg 10, in Leitersburg, MD (Hagerstown, MD) and the Waynesboro (single) in Waynesboro, PA have now officially shut their doors via New Vision. So either a new operator picks them up or they're done for good. Likely Waynesboro is done for good unless the city itself makes it attractive as a business. It is a small single with all of the challenges of a single in even good times. It was relatively recently renovated too and actually looks pretty nice.

Their statement via Facebook:

We know there have been a lot of questions circulating about the status of Leitersburg Cinemas and whether or not we will be reopening. As of right now, we will not be reopening as New Vision Theatres, however, we are hopeful that a buyer will be interested in purchasing the theater with plans of reopening. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time sharing movies with you and making memories that will last a lifetime! We want to thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts for the support and love you have shown us throughout the years. We will miss all of you terribly and hope we will once again be able to share a movie and popcorn with you! #longliveleitersburgcinemas

https://www.facebook.com/LeitersburgCinemas/

[EDIT]

Just saw this posting on the Waynesboro Theatre on Facebook:

Waynesboro nonprofit dedicated
to reopening downtown movie theater
WAYNESBORO, Pa. – The group that led the renovation of the Waynesboro movie theater announced today it is committed to showing movies again downtown.
The nonprofit Waynesboro Community Theatre Project helped raise more than $650,000 to renovate the circa-1970 former Waynesboro Mini-Theatre in 2015. The group owns the building and most of its contents.
The Waynesboro Theatre reopened in November 2015 with HighRock Group running the new state-of-the-art theater.
New Vision Theatres purchased Leitersburg Cinemas from HighRock as well as the right to show movies at the Waynesboro Theatre in early 2019.
New Vision Theatres, announced last week that it will need to default on its lease and would not be reopening the Waynesboro Theatre because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Waynesboro Theatre has been closed since mid-March because of the government-ordered shutdown caused by the pandemic.
“COVID-19 has been a real back-breaker for the entire industry, and it has had a major impact locally, as well,” said Bill Kohler, who serves as president of the board.
“We seek to be there for the community that was there for us in 2015 when the theater badly needed repairs,” Kohler said.
“We want the community to know that we as a board are dedicated to doing whatever we can to try and reopen the theater when it is safe to do so,” he said.

https://www.facebook.com/WCTProject/

[Martin McCaffery]

Eastdale Mall, Montgomery AL announces it will be reopened in September (it's been closed for several years)
This has all the makings of an epic tragic fail
https://www.alabamanews.net/2020/07/...eastdale-mall/