Johnny Ruoff, a manager at Entertainment Luxury Cinemas in South Portland, vacuums the floor inside the lobby where movie posters hang on the wall. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

A South Portland movie theater that closed during the pandemic has reopened under a new owner who has grand plans to expand the facility and take advantage of renewed interest in going out to the movies.

Entertainment Luxury Cinemas, a Massachusetts-based chain with several movie theaters across New England, has purchased the former Cinemagic Grand that closed in February 2021. The six- to eight-screen theater near the Maine Mall has been showing first-run films such as “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” and “Deadpool & Wolverine” since Aug. 30.

At the same time, the developers of the Rock Row complex in Westbrook have signed a long-term lease with Cinemark Theaters to open a 12-screen movie theater by the end of 2026, a spokesperson said.

The additions would bring the number of movie theaters in Greater Portland from four to six.

The expansion comes as more people have resumed going out to see films and box office profits have rebounded. Total domestic box office sales were just shy of $9 billion in 2023 and could hit $11 billion by 2026 – close to the $11.4 billion total in 2019, according to Boxoffice Pro.

Five films in 2023 earned over $300 million in the U.S. and Canada, including “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” and nine films are projected to do the same in 2026, including “The Super Mario Bros. 2” and “Avengers: Doomsday,” according to The Numbers.

“It’s bouncing back,” said Bill Hanney, owner of Entertainment Luxury Cinemas. “Films like ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ proved that people will go out to the movies if you give them something they want to see.”

The upturn has surprised even Hanney, who is board chair of the nonprofit Theater Owners of New England. He initially questioned whether movie houses could make a comeback after the pandemic pushed film distributors to stream first-run movies online and many people bought big-screen TVs to watch them at home.

To bring more people to his newly opened theater in South Portland, Hanney is charging $10 in person for all seats – less than other movie theaters. Tickets purchased online cost about $12.

“I want everybody to have an opportunity to have this experience,” he said.

CINEMAS ARE EVOLVING

As movie theaters bounce back, they are evolving to make sure people have good reason to venture out of the house.

The largest theater chains in the U.S. and Canada, including AMC Entertainment, Regal Cinemas and Cinemark, will invest over $2.2 billion in upgrades in the next three years, according to EMarketer, a market research company.

The overhauls, affecting more than 21,000 screens, will focus on improving sound and projection technology, seating, air conditioning and food and beverage options. Some theaters will be adding entertainment features such as arcades, bowling, pickleball and ziplines.

Meredith Kane and Jeff Chanin of South Portland make their way to a movie with popcorn and soda at Entertainment Luxury Cinemas in South Portland on Thursday.

The Cinemark movie theater in Westbrook is scheduled to open with the next phase of Rock Row, which will include stores, restaurants, an Element Hotel by Westin Marriott and residences, said spokesperson Angie Helton.

Headquartered in Plano, Texas, Cinemark employs 20,000 people in its theaters, restaurants and offices, with 308 theaters (4,303 screens) in 42 states and 194 theaters (1,405 screens) in 13 South and Central American countries.

Its theaters include the latest sight and sound technology, premium large-format and Barco laser projection, luxury recliners, motion seats and upscale food and beverages.

“Cinemark provides extraordinary out-of-home entertainment experiences,” the company’s website states. “All of this creates an immersive environment for a shared entertaining escape.”

IT ‘CHOSE ME’

Hanney has been looking to expand his multifaceted theater company to the Portland area for a couple of years, he said, hoping to build on the city’s vibrant foodie culture and add entertainment options he saw lacking. In the theater business since he was 14, Hanney purchased the 12-acre site on Clarks Pond Parkway in April.

“I didn’t choose this location,” he said. “This location chose me.”

Owner Bill Hanney inside a theater at Entertainment Luxury Cinemas in South Portland on Thursday. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

In addition to Entertainment Luxury Cinemas, Hanney operates Theatre by the Sea in Wakefield, Rhode Island, and North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, Massachusetts, which present Broadway-caliber touring companies and concerts. He’s also developing a multistage entertainment complex at a 12-screen Regal movie house in Hyannis, Massachusetts, that he hopes to replicate at the Clarks Pond site.

Cinemagic Grand closed shortly after the previous owner renovated the 28,000-square-foot building and installed deluxe seating. It’s located in a commercial strip that includes Home Depot, Eastpoint Christian Church, Urban Air Trampoline & Adventure Park and the Indian restaurant Taj. Another operator attempted to reopen the theater in late 2021, but it never happened.

Hanney plans to expand the Clarks Pond facility into Bill Hanney’s Entertainment Experience, like the complex he’s developing in Hyannis. The addition would include a 1,000-seat theater to host various live shows, a 300-seat cabaret-style theater for smaller acts and weddings and a comedy club.

It also would have a professional kitchen to serve pub-style appetizers and meals in the various theaters and a large lobby where moviegoers and theater patrons can mix and mingle.

“It will be a place where people will go and see each other and have a good time,” Hanney said.

The complex will have access to 1,500 parking spaces at the Shops at Clarks Pond and will draw customers from across southern Maine and beyond, he said.

“People say you have to reinvent the movie theater business,” Hanney said. “They’re right. That’s what I’m doing.”