Going-Out-Of-Business: Movie Theaters Near You

Photo: Chris Blakeley of The SunBreak Flickr pool

First it was Queen Anne's venerable Uptown theater, owned by AMC Theaters, who are closing "uncompetitive" theaters across the country. Their doors are already shut, as of November 28. Then lease negotiations fell apart for Landmark Theatres' Neptune Theatre in the University District. They'll cease screening films in February of 2011.

In this case, the Seattle Times reports, the building's owners opted not to renew Landmark's year-to-year lease in favor of a ten-year agreement with Seattle Theatre Group, who currently operate the Paramount and the Moore theaters. STG plans to remodel the Neptune, then use it primarily for live performances with "local and touring artists." However, they'll keep the ability to show films there.

Both of these arthouse-friendly venues saw heavy use annually as part of the Seattle International Film Festival, and gave the festival a strong presence in Queen Anne and the University District. Down two venues, it's about time for SIFF to be breaking ground on their new Seattle Center office complex, which will include a small screening theater, in addition to the 390-seat SIFF Cinema in McCaw Hall.

Finally, the getting-by-on-getting-byColumbia City Cinema (not the Columbia City Theater) is also facing closure, if the owners can't raise the money needed for the sprinklers required by the fire code. They're trying to raise $50,000 by selling $100-minimum bundles of stock, and "We're not to the halfway point yet on the required 50,000 shares by January 1 but we're getting close," says the blog. The three-screen theater is an anomaly among independents in that they show first-run fare like (at the moment) Tangled, Unstoppable, and Megamind.