Prime Cinemas to close its movie screens in Boyes Hot Springs

Prime Cinemas will turn off the lights on April 2 in the Fiesta Shopping Plaza on Highway 12, closing the only multiscreen theater in Sonoma Valley.|

When Brian and Katherine Young took over the nine-screen movie theater in Boyes Hot Springs in the spring of 2021, they knew they were in for a challenge.

Although theaters had been shuttered for months during the pandemic, the couple hoped that business would bounce back. But the many months away from the smell of fresh popcorn and quiet, darkened cinemas changed the public’s viewing habits.

“Unfortunately, with the studios not immediately releasing their best films and the movie-going public only returning to watch movies at about 50% of pre-COVID levels, this was not enough to sustain this theater,” the Youngs wrote in a news release that announced the theater’s closure. In an email to the Index-Tribune, Brian Young explained that the theater needed about 6,000 admissions a month to break even, but was only selling about 3,000 tickets in recent months.

“It's very sad because this same community used to come to the movies much more often, some years averaging 8,000 to 10,000 admissions per month,” Young wrote.

Prime Cinemas will turn off the lights on April 2 at its Sonoma 9 theater in the Fiesta Shopping Plaza on Highway 12, closing the only multiscreen moviehouse in Sonoma Valley. The single-screen Sebastiani Theatre continues to operate on the Plaza as the region’s sole remaining cinema.

“Sadly, the community will have to travel a little further now to watch the latest Hollywood releases as the space will no longer function as a movie theater,” the Youngs wrote.

The theater first opened in 1994, when Dave Corkill of Cinema West launched four screens at 200 Siesta Way. The business expanded in 1998 and 2009, growing to nine screens total. But when the pandemic closed movie theaters in the name of public safety, the small Petaluma-based theater chain struggled to hold on, ultimately closing its operations in Sonoma and Tiburon in the fall of 2020.

After sitting vacant for a year, the Youngs signed a two-year lease on the Sonoma 9 property, which sunsets on April 5, 2023. As he prepared to open for Memorial Day in 2021, Brian Young told the Index-Tribune, “We just need the volume to support it. It is hard to predict how things will pan out in terms of attendance so we need to make modifications until people start coming back to movie theaters in the same way they did in the past.”

As the industry struggled in the pandemic, film studios began releasing major titles on streaming platforms alongside theatrical releases, a practice that became so popular, it continued post lockdown. Now, 55% of audiences prefer to watch movies at home, according to a 2022 Forbes article. Forbes cited a survey which found that “49% of pre-pandemic movie goers are not buying tickets anymore. The North American box office earned $4.5 billion in 2021, up from the $2.27 billion earned in 2020 but down from the $11.4 billion earned in 2019.”

As movie theater operators make the bulk of their revenue on concessions, the drop in attendance was no longer sustainable at Prime Cinemas, forcing its closure. Calls to Dwares Group, which owns the Sonoma 9 building, were not immediately returned. Young said the landlord owns the building and most of the equipment inside.

“This theater has literally provided hundreds of first jobs to young people and we know many memories have been made here,” the Youngs wrote. They currently have 11 employees.

One of those jobs belongs to Bryan Martinez, who began working for Cinema West in March, 2013, ultimately becoming the theater’s general manager, a position he carried over to Prime Cinemas. Upon hearing of the theater’s closure, he shared memories of the quiet power of a community movie theater, where his first manager Terry Fautley spoke of “selling dreams for a quarter.”

“At the time it was just a throwaway line, but as I have grown in this industry I have learned it goes far beyond a dream,” Martinez wrote. ”I've learned that the theatrical experience is the vehicle in which people are offered opportunities, chances to dream, chances to celebrate on the best days of their life, and chances to escape on their worst.“

He wrote of first dates, regulars who became like family, and the power to escape one’s problems in a dark theater with a rich cinematic experience.

“Although this may be the end of this book, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that we have succeeded in our journey. We did not fail. We are going out on top,” Martinez shared.

Prime Cinema will host screenings for the Sonoma International Film Festival this week. Gift certificates can be redeemed until April 2. The Youngs advise movie lovers to keep an eye on its Facebook page for more information on its final days of operation.

“Thank you to everyone who came out to help us try and save the Sonoma 9 theater,” the Youngs wrote. “We appreciate you and your love of movies on the big screen.”

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