A 15-screen movie theater with stadium seating and digital sound and projection is scheduled to open in December in a new South Corona shopping center just across the street from an 18-screen Edwards theater.
George Krikorian, president and chief executive of Krikorian Premiere Theaters, confirmed this week that his company will operate the theater now under construction at The Promenade Shops at Dos Lagos beside Interstate 15 at Cajalco Road.
Terry McEwen, president of Poag & McEwen, the shopping-center developer, said Krikorian Premiere Theaters was chosen because "they are a very strong theater operator in Southern California and we will get personal attention and, therefore, top management from George Krikorian himself."
He also said the theater, owned by an investment group, will be built to Krikorian's standards for quality construction and amenities.
McEwen said the theater's digital technology will provide exceptionally clear images, 3-D pictures similar to the IMAX experience and satellite broadcasts of special events. And he said it could also become a location for conferences.
Krikorian said the theater at Dos Lagos will show art and foreign films in addition to mainstream films.
The Edwards theater at The Crossings at Corona does not as yet have digital projectors and does not show art films, said Russ Nunley, spokesman for Regal Entertainment Group, owner of the Edwards chain.
Lee Joslyn, a theater-industry consultant in Sherman Oaks, said construction of a new theater so close to an existing one will create competition for customers and, possibly, for first-run films, since movie studios usually release new films to one theater at a time within the same geographical zone.
However, Joslyn said the success of both the 30-screen AMC theater and 22-screen Edwards theater at Ontario Mills shows that movie houses can co-exist if demand is strong enough.
Nunley said for a number of years film distributors would not provide new films at the same time to the Ontario Mills theaters but now they do. He also said the Edwards theaters at Ontario Mills and The Crossings have performed very well.
McEwen said although some movie operators were not interested in Dos Lagos because of the close competition from Edwards, consultants' research shows the local market for movie-goers is large enough to support two multi-screen complexes.
Krikorian also said he doesn't anticipate any difficulty getting the latest studio releases for the new theater.
A theater is integral to Poag & McEwen's vision for the Dos Lagos shopping and entertainment center, McEwen said.
"What we are creating at Dos Lagos is an experience where people can go to a number of great restaurants in a great setting and then to a quality theater," he explained.
Copyright The Press-Enterprise Co.
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