Area movie theaters reported thriving

Movie box office grosses

Note: U.S. and Canada

Source: National Association of Theatre Owners

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A planned Regal Entertainment Group movie theater at the Village at Austin Landing would join a 27-location Greater Dayton movie theater community in an industry that supporters say is solid despite a dip in ticket sales last year.

Miami Twp. officials introduced plans at a meeting last week of the Austin Center Land Use Advisory Committee, indicating a coming 54,657-square-foot theater on the north edge of the village at the center of the development. The theater would be the second Regal cinema in the Miami Valley, joining the Regal Fairfield Commons Stadium 20 in Beavercreek.

The theater industry in the United States and Canada grossed $10.2 billion in ticket sales last year, a drop from $10.58 billion in 2010. It was the third straight year gross sales surpassed $10 billion.

Patrick Corcoran, director of media and research for the National Association of Theater Owners, said updated technology and location are key factors in a theater’s success. Ticket revenue industry-wide increased 19.6 percent in the first three months of 2012 compared with the first three months of 2011, boosted by the release of “Hunger Games,” which has grossed more than $300 million since its March 23 debut.

Calls to Regal and competitor Rave Cinemas, which has theaters in Beavercreek, Huber Heights and West Carrollton, were not returned.

Closures have happened locally. The former Showcase Cinemas Cross Pointe, at 6751 Loop Road, closed in June 2006 in anticipation of a new theater at The Greene in Beavercreek.

Nathan Cahall, Centerville’s economic development administrator, said economic conditions at the Cross Pointe center at the time, as well the updated theater at The Greene, combined in the Showcase theater’s closing.

“If (a movie theater is) stand-alone and isolated, I think the track record in the Dayton region is that those haven’t fared well over time,” Cahall said. “But when incorporated into a larger retail and entertainment community, that’s a benefit.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7389 or knagel@DaytonDailyNews.com.