Have you ever wondered what the difference was between a multiplex and a megaplex? It’s not a question that keeps me up at night, but every so often I’ll read about a theatre which is described as a megaplex and it will cross my mind. I mean, how many screens does a theatre need to have in order to be considered a megaplex? Fifteen? Eighteen? Or is it anything over 20 screens?
This rhetorical question was answered last week when AMC Entertainment announced they would not be renewing their lease on The Grand 24 in Dallas, TX., the first megaplex ever built in the United States. Several news stories, including one in the Los Angeles Times, defined a megaplex as any theatre with 14 or more auditoriums.
I could be faulted for burying the lead here, which is that AMC will be closing the historic venue after it couldn’t reach new lease terms with the property owner Entertainment Properties Trust. In a written statement Gerry Lopez, Chief Executive of AMC, the nation’s second largest theatre chain, said of the venue’s closure:
“It’s disappointing that we have not come to terms on a historical, and to us, a somewhat sentimental property. But in our opinion, the proposal advanced by EPT is simply untenable. We continue to negotiate with EPT on several other properties and will see where those discussions take us.”
What’s significant about this, other than the closure of an historic theatre, is that Entertainment Properties Trust is actually a long standing corporate partner of AMC. The Kansas City, MO. based real estate trust was founded by former AMC Chief Executive, Peter Brown in 1997. The firm presently owns 96 megaplexes run by numerous theatre chains.
The announcement and the outcome of their lease negotiations with AMC didn’t come as a surprise to David Brain, EPT’s CEO. He told the Kansas City Business Journal:
“This was something we had been preparing for. [The Grand] was sized for a day in which it was the only megaplex theater, and there have been competitive properties built surrounding it that have diminished its market catchment such that it makes sense that it be resized.”
The Grand 24 was built during the big megaplex boom of the 1990’s, opening in 1995. During the theatre’s first year of operation attendance reached 2.8 million. As Brain mentioned, the theatre’s attendance had been in decline for several years as competitors began building megaplexes nearby. After AMC vacates the premises by November EPT plans on maintaining the venue as a theatre and hopes to announce a new tenant shortly.
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Derelict Hoxton cinema
Opinion pieces and leader column in UK media have been alive with the debate about whether the imminent switch to digital cinema (imminent, once the credit crunch is over, that is) will lead to death and carnage amongst the smaller cinemas on the British Isles.
The debate was triggered by a comment by the UK Film Council’s Peter Buckingham that whilst the UKFC had funded 240+ screens conversion to digital, the UK Government will not bail out at-risk cinemas (unlike at-risk banks, one hastens to add). From the Telegraph:
Peter Buckingham of the UK Film Council warned that 300 independent cinemas – many in rural areas - are in series danger of closing because they can’t afford the transition.
“If they haven’t got digital they aren’t going to have anything to show in five years time,” he told The Times. “I don’t know what Plan B is – there is no public money available.”
The major multiplexes, which account for about 85 per cent of film takings, have so far refused to use their economies of scale to help smaller cinemas convert. The UK Film Council estimates it would cost £50 million to update all the vulnerable cinemas.
Derelict Catford cinema
Pretty grim outlook. But over in the Independent, John Walsh argues that we have been here before:
The death of the nation’s independent cinemas has been predicted so often that hearing the news of another imminent demise is like seeing another re-run of The Great Escape. Britain’s old movie palaces have been heading the way of the stegosaurus for half a century, scuppered by television, bingo parlours, dwindling visitor numbers, too many crap movies chasing too few screens, and the rise of the all-conquering DVD. But I still wipe away a tear on hearing that the switch from celluloid to digital projectors and servers may drive smaller cinemas out of business.
A very measured assesment was offered by Screen International’s always-worth-reading editor Mike Gubbins, writing in The Times (’The inability to evolve has darkened screens before’), with the first paragraph particularly worth pondering:
The switch to digital cinema has barely touched the consciousness of the public. Some may be aware of the hype surrounding 3D, while others may have seen an opera screened at the local cinema, but this is not a demand-led transformation.
The industry debate between those in favour, who hope to see greater choice, and opponents who fear more efficient domination of the Hollywood studios has rarely reached the public domain.
But the digital divide might become an ugly reality if large numbers of cinemas close. Stroll along any high street and see if you can spot the ornate frontage that was once a cinema.
For a sad reminder of previous cinemas that are now gone, visit Derelictlondon.com’s cinema page.
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The marquee outside the now closed Atco Multiplex Cinemas
The Boston Globe is reporting that National Amusements is closing two of its theatres in Massachusetts. The Showcase Cinemas Lawrence 1-6 which opened in 1965 and employed 30 people, was shut down on Monday. The Circle Cinemas in Brookline, which employed a staff of 21, will hold it’s final screenings on September 7th.
Of the two theatres the Circle Cinemas was by far the more historic venue. It originally opened in 1946 as a single screen theatre called the Circle Theater, though was also known as the Cleveland Circle. In 1976, the Cinema was divided in half and given the name Circle Cinemas. The theatre developed into one of the best in Boston and in its heyday played most of the major releases. The theatre booked mostly Paramount films, which is no surprise since National Amusements is owned by Sumner Redstone, the owner of Viacom, the parent organization of both Paramount Pictures and CBS. (Editorial Addendum: Redstone did not purchase Paramount Pictures until 1993). One such film was “Love Story” which played at the Circle Theatre for over a year six months starting in 1970.
Toward the end of its run the two theatres inside Circle Cinemas had been divided into seven awkward spaces. Patrons often faulted the venue for having small theatres with tiny screens. Then in 2005, the Brookline Health Department was contacted by several theatre patrons regarding an infestation of mice.
National Amusements gave no specific reason for the closures, though Wanda Whitson, a company spokesperson, told the Globe:
“We watch all of our theaters closely and make every effort to keep them as viable operating businesses. Once they are no longer viable, we make the decision to close them.”
Meanwhile, just a few states south along the East Coast the Atco Multiplex Cinemas in Waterford New Jersey closed its doors for good on Monday. The suburban Philadelphia 14-screen venue, which opened in December of 1991, was also operated by National Amusements. According to the Courier-Post, the theatre closed without public notice. When the newspaper checked with National Amusements they too were told the “operation was no longer financially viable” by Ms. Whitson.
The marquee outside the Atco Multiplex Cinemas was stripped of the film titles that played over the weekend and instead a message to former customers was spelled out: CLOSED, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATRONAGE.
National Amusements didn’t put out a press release announcing the closure of the three theatres, though who can blame them for not wanting to make a trend out of promoting their own theatre closures. Whitson told the Courier-Post that National Amusements is presently trying to place the 100 theatre employees left without jobs at other multiplexes.
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The National Theatre, the last single screen movie theatre to ever be built in the United States, is presently being demolished in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. Since the fall of 2006, when Mann Theatres was forced to give up the lease on the 1112 seat theatre due to increased rent, the future of the National has been in doubt. Now, according to UCLA’s student newspaper, the Daily Bruin, the National Theatre is presently being torn down to make way for a single story retail outlet reported to be a Banana Republic clothing store.
National General Corporation first opened the National Theatre on March 27, 1970 playing ‘The Boys In The Band’. At the time the National was the 289th theatre to be opened by National General Corporation. Mann Theatres picked up the lease on the National when they purchased National General Corporation in the early 1970’s and for more than 36 years the theatre went on to host some of the biggest blockbusters and most critically acclaimed films of all time including ‘Fiddler on the Roof’, ‘Chinatown’, ‘The Deer Hunter’, ‘Superman’ ‘Star Trek’, ‘Rain Man’, ‘Titanic’ and ‘Gladiator’.
The film that probably brought the National Theatre the most attention was ‘The Exorcist’. The film opened in a platformed release at the National Theatre in December 1973 to rave reviews and sold out screenings. Pictures and footage of moviegoers wrapped around the theatre appeared in newspapers and television across the country turning the film into a huge hit when it opened wider in the spring of 1974.
The National was a favorite among movie buffs as it was one of the few theatres capable of showing 70mm prints, though with the advent of digital surround sound, studios rarely released films in the large gauge format. The National was also known for its two large lobbies connected by a spiraling staircase and in which hung a 14 foot tall antique mirror as well as custom made chandeliers. Over time, the late 1960’s décor went from being modern to out-of-date to ultimately retro, though the bright orange interior of the theatre itself looked a little worse-for-wear toward the end. Of course, the giant screen at the front of the room found few rivals in Los Angeles, if not the United States.
By the mid-1970’s Westwood Village had become a moviegoing mecca with at least half a dozen theatres within walking distance of one another, including the Village, the Bruin and the Festival which are still operating. Over the last decade however, large multiplexes opened just a few miles away - the AMC Century 15 is less than 3 miles away - and began to siphon off business from Westwood Village. Even as attendance dwindled, Hollywood studios kept showing up at the National Theatre to hold star studded movie premieres throughout the 1990’s and right up to when Mann closed the theatre in May of 2007.
In an age when most movies don’t play for more than three weeks to large audiences, booking a single screen theatre was a chore, given that most distributors want to guarantee runs for four weeks before letting a film come off. That combined with clearence rules for nearby theatres may have compounded the issue for Mann, who was probably operating the National in the red for quite some time. In the Daily Bruin article, Peter Dobson, the CEO of Mann Theatres was quoted as saying:
“Business had gone down at that theater. It wouldn’t have been financially viable.”
For a short time after Mann gave up its lease on the National filmgoers were given some hope that the theatre might be saved when an independent theatre began showing films there. However, many believe this was just a ruse to provide the landlord and real estate developers with enough time to get their plans and permits in order without causing a huge public outcry over demolishing the theatre. On October 7, 2007 the National was closed for good.
A list ditch effort was made to try and save the theatre when a small group called Friends of the National Theatre attempted to get the building declared an historic landmark with the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission. An online petition also cropped up, but to no avail. On November 1st, the Cultural Heritage Commission met at Los Angeles City Hall and unanimously voted to consider making the National an historic monument delaying demolition for a short time. However, after inspection of the theatre they voted against declaring the National a historic landmark clearing the way for demolition.
Now, with demolition nearly complete, Los Angeles moviegoers and cinema historians will no doubt focus their attention on saving both the Village and Bruin theatres; single screen venues run by Mann Theatres whose lease is up in 2010.
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