Cine Capri
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[edit] History
Making its debut April 1, 1966, the original Cine Capri was an instant hit with moviegoers in Phoenix, Arizona. Located at 24th Street and Camelback, across the street from the Biltmore Fashion Park, the Cine Capri was built by ABC Intermountain Theatres. It had 800 seats and a 58 foot wide screen - the largest in Arizona. From the signature white columns to the majestic gold waterfall curtains surrounding the screen, the Cine Capri was the place to see all of Hollywood’s blockbusters. In 1988 the theatre was renovated and re-opened by it’s new operator Harkins Theatres, the largest privately owned movie theatre chain in North America.
Playing host to many red carpet premieres in the 1960s, the Cine Capri opened with the Charlton Heston film The Agony and the Ecstasy. Other notable runs at the Cine Capri include Star Wars in 1977. The Cine Capri held one of the highest grosses for the 1977 George Lucas film and played the film for over a year – the longest run in the United States.
In 1997, a year-long battle began between Harkins Theatres and the property owner over the decision to demolish the Cine Capri in favor of a high-rise office building. Despite over 260,000 petition signatures and efforts of the Save the Cine Capri Committee, the preservation effort failed. On January 5, 1998 at 2:12am, the curtain lowered on the original Cine Capri and its appropriate final film, Titanic. Six weeks later, the out-dated theatre was demolished.
In 2003 the Cine Capri was rebuilt as part of the Scottsdale 101 theatre complex in Phoenix, Arizona. With a 568 seat auditorium and a 40,000 watt / 150 speaker Digital sound system, the Scottsdale Cine Capri became the largest regular movie theater screen in Arizona at over 70 feet wide by 30 feet high. The only other screens larger in Arizona are the IMAX screens which standard are 72.5'W x 52.8'H (22m x 16m) and sometimes larger. The Scottsdale 101 location is also home to the Cine Capri museum which showcases memorabilia and photos from the original Cine Capri. The Cine Capri auditorium concept has also been re-incarnated at the company's newest locations, The Bricktown 16, the Southlake Towne Square 14, and the Northfield 18 at Northfield Stapleton in Denver, Colorado.
Due to the success of the Cine Capri in Scottsdale, a second Arizona Cine Capri was built in Tempe, Arizona at the new Tempe Marketplace shopping center, along with 15 other movie screens. It is located on the Southwest corner of Loop 101 and Loop 202 Red Mountain, with over 650,000 vehicles passing every day. The new stadium-style theatre has the same size screen - over 70'W x 30'H and has 604 seats instead of 568. The new theater pre-opened on June 28th, 2007 with the running of the original 1977 Star Wars, a Dan Harkins favorite. The Grand Opening was on June 29, 2007 and the opening film was Live Free or Die Hard, the fourth installment in the Die Hard Series starring Bruce Willis.
Harkins also operates a Cine Capri at its Oklahoma City Bricktown 16 theather complex which opened in 2005. The theater, the largest in Oklahoma, houses a 70-foot wide screen, 600 seats, 144 speakers and 40,000 watts of power and pure digital sound.
Two more Cine Capris recently opened at the Northfield 18 theaters in Denver, Colorado and at the Soutlake Town Square in Southlake, Texas.
