New Carmike theater to be built near new Cinemark theater in East El Paso

To paraphrase Yoda from Star Wars: Begun, the movie theater wars have.

Just a week after Cinemark announced it was building a 14-screen theater in far East El Paso, Carmike Cinemas has announced it will build a 13-screen theater about a mile away from Cinemark’s new location. Read Cinemark’s announcement here.

Carmike Cinemas, Inc. on Tuesdayannounced that construction will begin shortly on a new Carmike Cinemas entertainment complex in East El Paso. The company is aiming to open the theater in fall 2013.

Terrell Mayton, Director of Marketing for Carmike Cinemas, said the BIGD auditorium that will be a part of Carmike 13 is sure to have customers saying “wow” when they first enter the 600r-seat auditorium.

“It puts you in the middle of the action. It has plush, leather, high-back rocking seats,” Mayton said. “It will have 7.1 surround sound so the sound will feel like you are in the movie The screen is three-plus stories high and 81 feet wide.”

The BIGD experience is powered by Christie Brilliant 3D flash projector that results in a light output of 30,000 lumens.

“The picture is like HD on steroids. It will have 43 trillion colors,” Mayton said.

Mayton said the Carmike chose the location at the northeast corner of Montana Ave. and Looop 375 because it will be an anchor tenant of a 230 acre multi-use planned development that will include restaurants and shops.

Jay Anthony, Principal of Dallas-based Anthony Properties, developers of the project, stated, “New construction at Fort Bliss, proximity to the planned Army Medical Campus and the future El Paso Community College Campus make this
a prime site that will attract additional top-tier retail, restaurant and commercial tenants to the area.”

The new theatre will feature 13 screens with total seating for over 2,800 guests and will be highlighted by a state-of-theart “BIGD” auditorium, Carmike’s acclaimed premium theatre environment. The new facility will be equipped with
auditoriums featuring stadium style seating, with comfortable high back rocking luxury seats, in addition to retractable armrests and convenient cup holders.

The Carmike 13 will also contain large, wall-to-wall screens, as well as DLP
DIGITAL projection and DIGITAL sound. The new theatre will have an upscale lobby and multiple concession areas featuring Coca Cola Freestyle drink centers. One-stop ticketing and concessions stations are a unique design feature of
the Carmike 13.

The new complex will also feature special services for the visual and hearing impaired.

“The success of 3-D releases for features like ‘Avatar,’ ‘Marvel’s The Avengers,’ ‘Transformers Dark of the Moon,’ ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2′ and the record-breaking re-launch of ‘The Lion King in 3-D,’ proves that audiences
are excited about and enjoy a premium DIGITAL experience, and are demanding it,” said Mr. Passman.

“These successes will no doubt persuade producers to release more movies in this format, so moviegoers can truly enjoy our “BIGD” experience.”
“We have developed more than 40 theatres for Carmike Cinemas over the past 25 years and are very pleased to add this outstanding location to the growing portfolio,” added Mr. Anthony. “The El Paso market offers strong demographics, a
diverse economy and a pro-growth business environment.”

Thirteen BIGD theaters have been built across the country.