The Plaza Theater is currently closed – we’ll be back as soon as we can!

Thanks for your support!


Why isn’t the Plaza open?

We get this question on a weekly basis, and we want to thank you all for your continued support! It’s been difficult to have the theater closed for this long, but it’s encouraging to know that we still have lots of people eager to come back when the time is right. We really WANT to reopen, but we still need time to make sure it’s financially possible.

We get this question on a weekly basis, and we want to thank you all for your continued support! It’s been difficult to have the theater closed for this long, but it’s encouraging to know that we still have lots of people eager to come back when the time is right. We really WANT to reopen, but we still need time to make sure it’s financially possible.

A little background will hopefully help explain where things are at for second-run theaters like the Plaza. Prior to Covid, movies were typically released in first-run theaters and played there for a number of weeks. Then second-run theaters like the Plaza would get access to them, and after that they’d go to online streaming services and/or DVD. The window of time when only movie theaters had access to films was critical for us and other second-run theaters.

Most people know that the film industry has gone through massive changes since the beginning of the pandemic. Movie studios started bypassing theaters entirely for some of their titles, and put them on streaming services instead. Other movies came out on streaming platforms the same day as they hit theaters. Now, as customers are coming back to theaters, studios are still trying to figure out how to be as profitable as they can. Many of them are getting back to making movies available exclusively in theaters to launch them. That’s really good news!

What’s not clear is whether that theater-exclusive window of time will end up being long enough for second-run theaters to survive. That’s the main reason we haven’t felt comfortable reopening the Plaza – the industry is still in flux and it’s not clear where the movie studios will land.

But we’re watching the industry very closely, and are eager to get back to showing movies (and serving up fresh popcorn!) when it’s financially possible. In the meantime, thanks again so much for your continued support for the Plaza. When we have more info about our plans, we’ll post it here!