QUEENS — A Forest Hills movie theater, which has been struggling to keep its doors open, is one step closer to avoiding closure after two major studios have licensed additional first-run films to the cinema, the owner said.
Local residents will soon be able to see “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” a British comedy featuring Richard Gere, and “Run All Night,” an action thriller starring Liam Neeson, Common and Ed Harris, at the Cinemart Cinemas, a five-screen theater at 106-03 Metropolitan Ave., the owner, Nicolas Nicolaou, said.
Nicolaou, 57, whose family has owned the theater since the mid-1960s, said the venue has been struggling primarily because it was not receiving first-run films since 2008, when it screened "Sex and the City."
"No other theater in the five boroughs was able to stay open not playing first-runs," Nicolaou said in January.
Last year, the movie theater lost about $200,000, Nicolaou said.
But earlier this year, the theater, which originally opened in 1927, got another chance when Warner Bros. decided to license "American Sniper," a war drama directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller, to the Cinemart.
Local residents launched a campaign asking their neighbors to support the theater by buying tickets and attending the screenings at the Cinemart.
Nicolaou said the campaign worked and thousands of people showed up.
“Because of what happened with 'American Sniper,' because the community responded, because they came and they bought tickets, it made some film companies more sensitive and they started giving us first-run movies,” he said.
“The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel," released by Fox Searchlight, will open at the theater on March 6. Starting March 13, locals will get a chance to see Warner Bros.' “Run All Night.”
Nicolaou said that the fate of the theater is still uncertain, but he is in discussions with other film companies and hopes to receive additional first-run movies soon.
"We are going to keep fighting," he said.
He said he also keeps prices low to make the theater affordable for local residents (tickets cost from $6 to $9 and include free popcorn).
