General Cinema was a nationwide chain of movie theaters that operated from 1935 until 2002. The theater chain, in its prime, operated approximately 621 screens, some of which were the first cinemas certified by THX. Its mascot was Popcorn Bob and his Candy Band, which graced the company's policy trailers from 1993 until 2002 and were created by Lucasfilm. For a time, General Cinema also owned the department store Neiman Marcus and the publisher Harcourt Brace, as well as radio stations in several major markets. The company suffered greatly when it filed for bankruptcy protection in 2000 and what remained of the company afterward was acquired by AMC Theatres in 2002. With the acquisition, the Credits program merged into the MovieWatcher network.
The General Cinema Corp. trademark was placed up for auction on December 8, 2010.[1] As of 2011, this trademark has been recently published for opposition by JTE Multimedia. [2]