![]() | This article contains promotional content .(July 2019) |
Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Motion Picture Exhibition |
Founded | May 1997, Bedford, Indiana United States |
Defunct | November 2012 |
Successor | Regal Entertainment Group |
Headquarters | New Albany, Indiana, United States |
Key people | Anne Ragains, CEO |
Great Escape Theatres was a movie-theatre chain that operated movie theatres primarily in the Midwestern United States. The chain had its headquarters in New Albany, Indiana, located just across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky. In November 2012, Alliance Entertainment (parent company of Great Escape) sold its movie theatre portfolio (except for the Princess 4 in Oxford, Ohio) to Regal Entertainment Group. [1] [2]
Great Escape Theatre was a private company owned and operated by Alliance Entertainment, which opened its first theatre in Bedford, Indiana, in May 1997. The company continued to further expanded, opening locations in Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, Ohio, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Nebraska, Missouri, and Georgia.
In a previously noted statement on the company's website, Great Escape Theatre locations were chosen based on population size, with preferred locations being identified as "mid-size" market areas consisting of populations between 100,000 and 400,000 people. [3]
Great Escape Theatres was sold to Regal Cinemas for approximately $91m in December 2012.
The company operated 305 screens at 26 locations. [4] Thirty-eight additional screens were planned for construction in 2009 and 2010. The chain employed a workforce of over 500 people.
The location in Fenton Missouri, won Best Theatre in the St. Louis, Missouri area in the July 2009 issue of St. Louis Magazine. [5]
A location opened in Simpsonville, South Carolina, in early 2010 and Dickson City, Pennsylvania, in late 2010.
The following individuals composed the operating team for Great Escape Theatres.
Great Escape Theatres offers such customer service benefits as online ticket purchase and free concession refills on all large sizes.
Great Escape Theatres also offers an incentive program known as the Critics Choice card. The Critics Choice card is a loyalty card program that allowed members to earn points towards free concessions and other items.
Theatre | Location | Date Opened or Acquired |
---|---|---|
Bedford 7 | Bedford, Indiana | May 1997 |
Seymour 8 | Seymour, Indiana | May 1999 |
Oldham 8 | La Grange, Kentucky | Sept.1998 (closed May 7, 2013) |
Madison 6 | Madison, Indiana | Sept. 1998 |
Weston 4 | Weston, West Virginia | Sept. 1998 (closed) |
Princess 4 | Oxford, Ohio | May 2000 (closed Nov 2012) [1] |
Wilder 14 | Wilder, Kentucky | Jan. 2001 |
Bowling Green 12 | Bowling Green, Kentucky | May 2002 |
New Albany 16 | New Albany, Indiana | June 2003 |
Clarksville 16 | Clarksville, Tennessee | Oct. 2003 |
Shelbyville 8 | Shelbyville, Kentucky | Nov. 2003 |
Williamsport 12 | Muncy, Pennsylvania | April 2004 |
Noblesville 10 | Noblesville, Indiana | Oct. 2004 |
Greenwood 10 | Bowling Green, Kentucky | Nov. 2004 |
Wilkes-Barre 4 | Wilkes-Barre, PA | Nov. 2004 (closed 2008) |
Massilon 12 | Massillon, Ohio | May 2005 |
Moline 14 | Moline, Illinois | May 2005 |
Nitro 12 | Nitro, West Virginia | June 2005 |
O'Fallon 14 | O'Fallon, Missouri | Sept. 2005 |
McDonough 16 | McDonough, Georgia | Nov. 2005 |
Lebanon Valley 10 | Lebanon, PA | July 2006 |
Omaha 16 | Omaha, Nebraska | Oct. 2006 |
River Falls 12 | Clarksville, Indiana | Nov. 2006 |
Harrisburg 14 | Harrisburg, PA | Nov. 2007 |
Hamilton Mill 14 | Dacula, GA | July 11, 2008 |
Gravois Bluffs 12 | Fenton, MO | Dec. 19, 2008 |
Simpsonville 14 IMAX | Simpsonville, SC | April 26, 2010 |
Dickson City 14 IMAX | Dickson City, PA | November 4, 2010 |
AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. is an American movie theater chain founded in Kansas City, Missouri, and now headquartered in Leawood, Kansas. It is the largest movie theater chain in the world. Founded in 1920, AMC has the largest share of the U.S. theater market ahead of Regal Cinemas and Cinemark Theatres.
Regal Cinemas is an American movie theater chain founded on August 10, 1989 and owned by the British company Cineworld, headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, and operates the second-largest theater circuit in the United States, with 6,853 screens in 511 theaters as of December 31, 2021. The three main theater brands operated by Regal Entertainment Group are Regal Cinemas, Edwards Theatres, and United Artists Theatres.
Edwards Theatres is an American movie theater brand owned and operated as an in-name-only unit of Cineworld through its Regal Cinemas chain. Originally founded in 1930 by William James Edwards Jr., it operated independently as a major theater chain in the Southern California region until it was consolidated with Regal Cinemas and United Artists Theatres into the Regal Entertainment Group (REG) in 2002. Although REG took over all Edwards operations, many theaters in Southern California still bear the Edwards name for marketing purposes.
A movie palace is a large, elaborately decorated movie theater built from the 1910s to the 1940s. The late 1920s saw the peak of the movie palace, with hundreds opening every year between 1925 and 1930. With the advent of television, movie attendance dropped, while the rising popularity of large multiplex chains in the 1980s and 1990s signaled the obsolescence of single-screen theaters. Many movie palaces were razed or converted into multiple-screen venues or performing arts centers, though some have undergone restoration and reopened to the public as historic buildings.
Rave Cinemas, formerly known as "Rave Motion Pictures", is a movie theater brand founded in 1999 and owned by Cinemark Theatres. It previously was headed by Thomas W. Stephenson, Jr., former CEO of Hollywood Theaters, and Rolando B. Rodriguez, former Vice President and Regional General Manager for Walmart in Illinois and northern Indiana. The chain was headquartered in Dallas, Texas until it was acquired by Plano-based Cinemark Theatres.
Landmark Theatres is a movie theatre chain founded in 1974 in the United States. It was formerly dedicated to exhibiting and marketing independent and foreign films. Landmark consists of 34 theatres with 176 screens in 24 markets. It is known for both its historic and newer, more modern theatres. Helmed by its President, Kevin Holloway, Landmark Theatres is part of Cohen Media Group.
Cineplex Inc. is a Canadian operator of movie theater and family entertainment centers, headquartered in Toronto. It is the largest cinema chain in Canada; as of 2019, it operated 165 locations, and accounted for 75% of the domestic box office.
Goodrich Theater NewCo, LLC. is a chain of 22 movie theaters, headquartered in Grand Rapids, MI, representing a total of 174 screens in the United States. The majority of GQT Movies' locations are in Michigan, but other locations could be found in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Alabama, and Pennsylvania. The company filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection in February 2020. All employees were terminated March 19, 2020 without notice largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as many movie theaters were closed by government order in many states. In last July 2020, the company began reopening some of their locations. By the end of the year it had reopened its 22 locations.
Carmike Cinemas, Inc. was an American motion picture exhibitor headquartered in Columbus, Georgia. As of March 2016, the company had 276 theaters with 2,954 screens in 41 states, and was the fourth largest movie theater chain in the United States. The company billed itself as "America's Hometown Theatre" and Carmike theaters were largely positioned in rural or suburban areas with populations under 200,000. The company's theaters operated under various names and generally had a name followed by the number of auditoriums at that location; for example, "Carmike 15".
Famous Players Limited Partnership was a Canadian-based subsidiary of Cineplex Entertainment. As an independent company, it existed as a film exhibitor and cable television service provider. Famous Players operated numerous movie theatre locations in Canada from British Columbia to Newfoundland and Labrador. The company was owned by Viacom Canada but was sold to Cineplex Galaxy LP in 2005.
Kerasotes Showplace Theatres, LLC was a movie theatre operator in the United States. Based in Chicago, Kerasotes Showplace Theatres, LLC was the sixth-largest movie-theatre company in North America which had some 957 screens in 95 locations in California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, and Wisconsin at one point.
Wehrenberg Theatres was a movie theater chain in the United States. It operated 15 movie theaters with 213 screens in the states of Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Arizona and Minnesota, including nine theaters with 131 screens in the St. Louis metropolitan area. It was a member of the National Association of Theatre Owners. On November 21, 2016, it was announced that the Wehrenberg Theater chain would be acquired by Marcus Theatres. The acquisition was completed in December 2016.
Malco Theatres, Inc. is a family owned and operated movie theater chain that has been in business for over one hundred years. It has been led by four generations of the Lightman family. Malco Theatres features 34 theatre locations with over 345 screens in six states. Malco also operates three bowling centers and a family entertainment center in southern Louisiana and a family entertainment center in Oxford, Mississippi.
B&B Theatres Operating Company, Inc. or simply B&B Theatres is a family-owned and operated American movie theater chain based in Liberty, Missouri. Founded in 1924, B&B is the fifth-largest theater chain in the United States, operating 500+ screens at 54 locations in 14 US states. The company also maintains offices in Salisbury, Missouri and Fulton, Missouri.
ArcLight Cinemas was an American movie theater chain that operated from 2002 to 2021. It was owned by The Decurion Corporation, which was also the parent company of Pacific Theatres. The ArcLight chain opened in 2002 as a single theater, the ArcLight Hollywood in Hollywood, Los Angeles, and later expanded to eleven locations in California, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Illinois.
Dickinson Theatres was a privately-owned American movie theater chain based in Overland Park. It operated 15 theaters with 169 screens in seven states: Arkansas, Arizona, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas. In October 2014, the chain was purchased by B&B Theatres.
Warren Theatres was a movie theater chain based in Wichita, Kansas, United States. While the company was founded by Bill Warren, he sold ownership of most of the Warren Theatres locations to Regal Entertainment Group in 2017. The sale excluded two theaters that were in development and the Palace Theatre in Springfield, Missouri.
NCG Cinemas is a movie theater chain headquartered in Owosso, Michigan and are owned and operated by the Geiger family. The chain consists at present of 25 theaters with 147 screens. Most of the theaters are located in Michigan with 10 locations, especially in the Flint/Tri-Cities region and the Greater Lansing area. The group also operates in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, New York State, North and South Carolina and Tennessee.