Charlotte movie theater that stayed closed during COVID confirms it plans to reopen
Studio Movie Grill in north Charlotte, which remained shuttered during the coronavirus pandemic, will reopen as the dine-in movie theater chain emerges from bankruptcy, the company confirmed to the Observer.
The company said Tuesday it is in “final negotiations” to reopen at the Prosperity Village site.
A time-frame for reopening isn’t available yet, as negotiations for the new lease continue, company spokeswoman Lynne McQuaker said.
Studio Movie Grill opened the cinema just three months before the coronavirus pandemic shutdowns began in March 2020.
Movie theaters in North Carolina were allowed to reopen under restrictions in October.
Consistently rated as one of the fastest growing companies in the U.S. before the pandemic, Studio Movie Grill filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October and exited bankruptcy in April.
Studio Movie Grill owed more than $3.5 million in lease pay to landord Lockard, an Iowa based company, court filings with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of Northern District of Texas showed. Lockard also was seeking administrative expenses for storage of Studio Movie Grill’s property after the entertainment venue had rejected the lease.
The movie theater chain lists 21 locations on its website, with Charlotte being the only location temporarily closed.
Other plans for Studio Movie Grill
Studio Movie Grill also will open SMG Chisholm Trail in Fort Worth, Texas, which was completed last July, and resumed construction of SMG Northpoint in Alpharetta, Georgia, to open later this year, according to a company news release.
“We’re seeing our attendance growing weekly and our market share is stronger than pre-pandemic in our various markets,” said Tearlach Hutcheson, vice president of film for Studio Movie Grill.
While streaming giants like Netflix and traditional movie houses continue to fight it out for audiences as vaccinations become more widespread, from Hutcheson’s perspective, people are back to enjoying movie theaters over streaming movies at home.
NC’s only Studio Movie Grill
The Texas-based movie theater chain opened its 47,000-square-foot, 10-screen theater in Charlotte’s University area in December 2019 with over 1,000 leather recliners at 5336 Docia Crossing Road.
The $12-million project was the company’s second Charlotte location, renovating a former Bi-Lo grocery store spot at the 8.9 acre, 64,584-square-foot Prosperity Village shopping center.
The first venue opened in uptown’s Epicentre in 2013 but closed in March 2020 just before the pandemic due to “an unusual amount of operational challenges,” the company said.
Post-bankruptcy, the company has 21 locations in eight states, down from 33 venues pre-bankruptcy. The company now has 212 screens in seven states, according to Studio Movie Grill.
Some area theaters stayed closed
Two Charlotte area theaters permanently closed during the pandemic.
Knoxville, Tennessee-based Regal said last spring The Manor Twin, Charlotte’s last art house, would not reopen. And AMC Theatres told the Observer in August, as South Carolina movie theaters planned to reopen, that its Rock Hill location would not reopen.