[JayCT]

Originally Posted by SteveM85

As long as Disney keeps pumping out Lion King reboots and super heros, they'll get by. No ones flocking to theatres for Jen Aniston romcoms or Saw XVIIs anymore. They wait for Netflix or Apple movies app for those.
Streaming will eventually take over all, not tomorrow or next week. This will affect the long term viabilty of new development in Hartford, in this case theatres, which is on-topic to the thread.

Again I disagree. Romcom’s are popular for dates and women’s nights out. Thriller movies are popular with teens. Animated movies are popular for young children. As the figures show, attendance and box office receipts have been steady for years. I see nothing to change that. It might take time for the movie goers to come back but I think they will. It will just take time. That makes the theaters in Hartford a perfectly reasonable investment for a company that runs theaters. Jay

[RogerAnthony]

Originally Posted by ryanthegoldengod

number of theaters we have close to each other. Front Street, New Park Avenue, Blue Back, Manchester....... 15 years ago, you only had New Park and Manchester

Not true at all that there were fewer screens. Instead of 4 screens at Front Street you had 4 screens at Cinema City in the south end of Hartford. Bloomfield had its 8 screen cinema both then and now. Plus 15 years ago you also had 15 screens in East Hartford and 12 in East Windsor. Those are both gone now.

[ryanthegoldengod]

Originally Posted by RogerAnthony

Not true at all that there were fewer screens. Instead of 4 screens at Front Street you had 4 screens at Cinema City in the south end of Hartford. Bloomfield had its 8 screen cinema both then and now. Plus 15 years ago you also had 15 screens in East Hartford and 12 in East Windsor. Those are both gone now.

Well Cinema City can't really be used because it was an outlier in that it showed arthouse movies. But okay, I forgot Showcase Cinemas in East Hartford closed as late as 2006. East Windsor closed in 2008. But I'd argue that doesn't change my point. There were too many theaters within a small radius then, so some had to close. But it could be that no one learned the lesson since there may be too many again and at least one may have to close in the near future. The faces change but the situation is the same. But oversaturation of theaters isn't necessarily the same thing as a decline in overall movie attendance. It's maybe a sign of developers being overly optimistic. It's the belief that we can build a theater and poach a neighboring theater's customers away. We saw the same phenomenon with shopping malls--even before Amazon's rise. We may be seeing the same issue with the Springfield casino--and certainly if the East Windsor casino had been greenlighted.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by ryanthegoldengod

Well Cinema City can't really be used because it was an outlier in that it showed arthouse movies. But okay, I forgot Showcase Cinemas in East Hartford closed as late as 2006. East Windsor closed in 2008. But I'd argue that doesn't change my point. There were too many theaters within a small radius then, so some had to close. But it could be that no one learned the lesson since there may be too many again and at least one may have to close in the near future. The faces change but the situation is the same. But oversaturation of theaters isn't necessarily the same thing as a decline in overall movie attendance. It's maybe a sign of developers being overly optimistic. It's the belief that we can build a theater and poach a neighboring theater's customers away. We saw the same phenomenon with shopping malls--even before Amazon's rise. We may be seeing the same issue with the Springfield casino--and certainly if the East Windsor casino had been greenlighted.

Cinema City showed more than arthouse films. That was just one or two of the theaters. I saw many commercial films there. Actually when Cinema City closed, the theater on New Park Avenue expanded and took over showing those films. I believe the new operators will continue to do that.

Also I disagree about there being too many movie theaters in greater Hartford. Remember there are 1.2 million people in metro Hartford so there is a sizable market for movie theaters here. There were good reasons for those theaters closing. Cinema City was bought by the Metropolitan District Commission to expand their adjacent sewage treatment plant and for access to the MDC’s massive 5 mile water control tunnel project that is now under construction there.

The other theaters were replaced by more modern better located theaters nearby by the same operator. The Showcase East Hartford was replaced by the Showcase Buckland Hills (now Rave) in Manchester. What caused that move was the loss of the exit ramps on I-84 back about 30 years ago so National Amusements decided to open a theater multiplex in the booming Buckland Hills regional retail area in Manchester. For several years they operated both multiplexes but it was clear that the Manchester theaters was taking over the market. It was too hard to get to the East Hartford theaters, so they closed in 2006.

The East Windsor theaters closed when new theaters were built by National Amusements at Enfield Square in 2008. It should be noted that National Amusements did the same thing in Milford when it closed its Post Road/Cherry Street multiplex to build theaters at the nearby Connecticut Post Mall. Jay

[KEVIN_224]

I'm kind of surprised that the cineplex in Berlin is still around. Haven't been to that one or Loew's in Plainville since 2003.

[RogerAnthony]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Cinema City showed more than arthouse films. That was just one or two of the theaters. I saw many commercial films there. Actually when Cinema City closed, the theater on New Park Avenue expanded and took over showing those films. I believe the new operators will continue to do that.

It remains to be seen what they do, but I will bet that they don't. They are reducing the screen count at the Palace from 17 to 12. My guess is it will be the five screens dedicated to art product that disappear.

Originally Posted by JayCT

The other theaters were replaced by more modern better located theaters nearby by the same operator. The Showcase East Hartford was replaced by the Showcase Buckland Hills (now Rave) in Manchester.

For several years they operated both multiplexes but it was clear that the Manchester theaters was taking over the market. It was too hard to get to the East Hartford theaters, so they closed in 2006.

I don't think it was really intended to replace it initially. Manchester opened in 1998 and East Hartford didn't close till 2006, so they were both operated simultaneously for nearly a decade. I think they probably overestimated the market. Showcase Manchester did result in the Hoyts Manchester 6 closing, but that has since reopened as Parkade Cinemas.

Originally Posted by JayCT

The East Windsor theaters closed when new theaters were built by National Amusements at Enfield Square in 2008.

NA didn't built the Enfield mall cinemas. They were built by Hoyts in 1998. NA took them over in 2008.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by RogerAnthony

It remains to be seen what they do, but I will bet that they don't. They are reducing the screen count at the Palace from 17 to 12. My guess is it will be the five screens dedicated to art product that disappear.





I don't think it was really intended to replace it initially. Manchester opened in 1998 and East Hartford didn't close till 2006, so they were both operated simultaneously for nearly a decade. I think they probably overestimated the market. Showcase Manchester did result in the Hoyts Manchester 6 closing, but that has since reopened as Parkade Cinemas.





NA didn't built the Enfield mall cinemas. They were built by Hoyts in 1998. NA took them over in 2008.

There is a good market for independent films in greater Hartford and not many other theaters showing them. The only theater I know of doing them is Cinestudio on the campus of Trinity College in Hartford. I’d be surprised if they do not take advantage of it.

https://www.cinestudio.org/film/picture-a-scientist/

National Amusements built in Buckland Hills because East Hartford’s access to I-84 got eliminated. Back when the state rebuilt I-84 in the late 80’s, they eliminated the full interchange at Forbes Street right next to the theaters and the Charter Oak Mall. That significantly impacted the mall and theaters. I used to go there. You saw the drop in attendance. It made sense to build a large regional multiplex in Buckland Hills for ease of access alone. Hoyt’s in Manchester was getting kind of old and was far from the highway so it was kind of doomed too. Jay

[ryanthegoldengod]

Originally Posted by RogerAnthony

It remains to be seen what they do, but I will bet that they don't. They are reducing the screen count at the Palace from 17 to 12. My guess is it will be the five screens dedicated to art product that disappear.





I don't think it was really intended to replace it initially. Manchester opened in 1998 and East Hartford didn't close till 2006, so they were both operated simultaneously for nearly a decade. I think they probably overestimated the market. Showcase Manchester did result in the Hoyts Manchester 6 closing, but that has since reopened as Parkade Cinemas.





NA didn't built the Enfield mall cinemas. They were built by Hoyts in 1998. NA took them over in 2008.

Manchester opened in 98? I could have sworn it was earlier, but you're probably right. I can remember going to movies in the 90's thinking it was Manchester but maybe it was East Windsor.

[RogerAnthony]

Originally Posted by ryanthegoldengod

Manchester opened in 98? I could have sworn it was earlier, but you're probably right. I can remember going to movies in the 90's thinking it was Manchester but maybe it was East Windsor.

It did. The Showcase Cinemas built during that era (Manchester, East Windsor, Southington, Berlin) were all so similar looking that it would be easy to confuse one for another!

Originally Posted by JayCT

There is a good market for independent films in greater Hartford and not many other theaters showing them. The only theater I know of doing them is Cinestudio on the campus of Trinity College in Hartford. I’d be surprised if they do not take advantage of it.

Real Art Ways also shows independent films. Unfortunately, non-profits such as RAW and Cinestudio will probably be the only ones left showing them. The art film business has been off in recent years. Bantam Cinema and Bethel Cinema, which both showed those movies, have closed permanently during the COVID-19 situation and Madison Art Cinemas is considering not reopening too.

[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Again I disagree. Romcom’s are popular for dates and women’s nights out. Thriller movies are popular with teens. Animated movies are popular for young children. As the figures show, attendance and box office receipts have been steady for years. I see nothing to change that. It might take time for the movie goers to come back but I think they will. It will just take time. That makes the theaters in Hartford a perfectly reasonable investment for a company that runs theaters. Jay

Cuomo just removed opening theatres from Stage 4. I expect many states to reclose or delay opening theatres longer, due to spikes in many regions.