It's another year of second chances in the movie biz — a new "Jurassic Park," more "Star Wars," "Ted 2," "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel." And now there's a remade 15-screen theater in the northwest suburb of St. Michael, at the edge of the metro area.
The rebirth of a multiplex is one more sign of recovery for towns like St. Michael that were hardest hit by the 2008 recession and real estate downturn.
The St. Michael Cinema stands out for another reason. Originally called the CineMagic Metropolitan, its interior is loosely modeled after a 1920s Paris street scene with a Moulin Rouge windmill, signage in French, street lamps and Art Nouveau details. It also has 15 screens, including one Imax, an 80-seat restaurant/bar and two party rooms.
"There is no other theater in Minnesota like it," said Nathan Block, a principal in Cinemasota Inc., which bought the theater in a bank foreclosure sale. "What this theater does is make going to the movies an event."
For Block and Cinemasota's Loren Williams, who also owns the venerable Riverview Theater in Minneapolis, the timing for remaking the St. Michael multiplex couldn't have worked out better. Movie attendance is solidly higher this year after two straight years of decline. Some experts forecast a record year for box-office receipts.
CineMagic Metropolitan opened in 2007 and closed in 2010. Rumored to have cost $15 million to build originally, it was bought by Block and Williams for $1.75 million.
"The auditoriums were left virtually empty. No seats, no projectors and except for a 70-foot Imax screen that was too large to remove, no screens," Williams said.
He and Block kept the French-inspired decor and worked on services that would add to moviegoers' experience. There are new seats in all of the auditoriums, including some high-backed recliners.