MIDTOWN — The big screen has temporarily gone dark at the Ziegfeld Theater.
Midtown's historic Ziegfeld Theater at 141 W. 54th St. near Sixth Avenue will be closed through the beginning of June while it hosts a series of private events, a spokeswoman for theater owner Clearview Cinemas said Tuesday.
The 1,169 seat theater will not show any films until June 1, when the lights will come back up for the Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron action flick "Snow White and the Huntsman," according to the spokeswoman.
Staffers said the movie theater halted film screenings beginning in early May.
Movie buffs were alarmed by the suspension of movie screenings, fearing it was a sign of the theater's impending closure.
"I know the Ziegfeld has been struggling but I pray it hasn't been shut down already! Would be a crushing blow to the NYC moviegoing scene," tweeted @BenLikesMovies.
Cablevision, the parent company of Clearview, has reportedly been looking to sell the movie chain, which has more than 45 theaters in the tri-state area, according to the New York Post.
The original Ziegfeld was a Broadway theater located at Sixth Avenue and 54th Street from 1927 until 1966, according to the theather's website.
The current incarnation opened in Dec. 1969 as one of the last big movie "palaces" in the country.
The theater regularly rolls out the red carpet for city movie premieres — drawing stars like Rooney Mara for the red carpet premiere of the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo to Katy Perry for last summer's Smurfs animated movie premiere, to Dame Judi Dench and Maggie Smith to Bill Nighy's film "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" in April.
A Clearview spokeswoman said the company does not comment on the finances of its theaters.
