Last week, Krikorian Theatres reached an agreement to sell their theatre in Old Town Monrovia (along with theatres that they owned in Redlands and Downey) to a company based in Texas called Studio Movie Grill.
City staff has had discussions with representatives from Studio Movie Grill (SMG), and while SMG operates primarily out of Texas, it appears the company is preparing for a big expansion push into California. At this point in time, they have only one theatre in California, located in Simi Valley, and with this recently completed transaction, their presence in the Golden State will be expanded to include Redlands, Downey, and Monrovia.
The first change that patrons will see at Monrovia’s theatre is a transition to a reserved seating system, whereby patrons will be able to purchase a specific seat for the movie that they are going to watch.
Moving forward, SMG representatives will be working with the City on initial movie theatre upgrade plans that involve an exterior façade improvement and the installation of high-back reclining seats
The exterior façade improvement will be coordinated through the City’s existing approval processes, which includes an assessment of the new signage by the Historic Preservation Commission
In addition, the new seats that will be installed are going to decrease overall seating capacity in the theatre, but will contribute to an enhanced customer movie-watching experience. SMG hopes to have the initial upgrade complete in time for the opening of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which is set to be released on Dec. 15, 2017
