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A surfeit of filmgoers and the highest ticket prices in the nation are fueling a surge in New York's movie theaters.
Construction projects are under way throughout the city, from funky independent downtown spots to the multiscreen big boxes of the national chains. Older theaters are being r refurbished or expanded. And developers are searching out additional locations for the coming years.
"Every major company--us, Sony, Cineplex, AMC--we're all actively looking," says Allen Hollis, vice president of development for Denver-based United Artists Theater Circuit Inc. "I'm sure we're passing each other as we go in and out of offices, competing for sites."
It's still unclear how all of this activity will change the New York moviegoing experience. Already, the explosion of home video sales and tough economics have killed off most of the city's once-thriving repertory revival houses.
But ready or not, the big guns are coming, with massive multiscreen projects usually reserved for the suburbs. And many worry that the growing strength of these national chains will narrow viewers' choices and drive up ticket prices even further.
One of the largest projects in the works is Kansas City-based ARC Entertainment Inc.'s 25-screen multiplex, slated to open on 42nd Street in early 1998 as part of the refurbishment of Times Square. The theater, to be called AMC 42nd Street 25, will be New York's biggest movie house to date, occupying about 140,000 square feet.
More huge theaters take root Meanwhile, United Artists will begin construction soon on a 14-screen multiplex in Union Square, scheduled to open in late 1997. The company...