Warren Theaters coming to MWC!

[Robert_M]

Sorry I didn't know that. Thank you for the info.

[_Kyle]

I worked here before it closed, i was furloughed and since then they have emailed us AT LEAST 6-7 times with a new reopening date but every time that date rolls around it gets pushed back. My last message saying they were close to finalizing the deal was the last time i got an email from them. Since then its been silent.

[Robert_M]

I just saw a news report on KFOR that says the MWC location is going up for a Sheriff sale in March to the highest bidder. MWC staff is hoping another theater operator will purchase it and keep it as a theater.

Edit: here is the link

https://kfor.com/news/warren-theatre...p-for-auction/

[Ward]

^^^ Yeah, I saw another report today that the Midwest City Hospital kicked in something like 6 MILLION DOLLARS to help finance the theatre.

WTF is a hospital doing lending money to a theater?????????

[BoulderSooner]

^^^ Yeah, I saw another report today that the Midwest City Hospital kicked in something like 6 MILLION DOLLARS to help finance the theatre.

WTF is a hospital doing lending money to a theater?????????

i would guess it was the "MWC hospital authority" which is really just an investment arm of the city and has nothing to do with the hospital ..

[bombermwc]

https://oklahoman.com/article/568203...warren-theatre

I'm still pretty pissed at Arvest about this. I mean I realize that banks can't forgive debt permanently, but Arvest full well knows that COVID is preventing the place from opening again, but they also know that the place CAN open in the future. It's not as though it's a failing business. Arvest could have put this debt on hold and will now lose their tail on the sale. It's not a good decision for either side so why push it? Did they think Warren was just going to hand over a payment for nothing? Arvest was really stupid here. Now they will lose their shirt on the loan and everything else because the debt was only 6 months old when this happened. Arvest, you're idiots.

Now hopefully that means that a different theater owner will come in after COVID and be able to buy it at a bargain and have an incredibly low overhead on a magnificent building. The last bit of the article says it all and points to why Arvest was sooooooo stupid here.

[John1744]

I think part of the problem and I can't completely confirm this it's just hearsay but it sounded like Bill Warren just walked away completely. The MWC location was supposed to be one branded theater he still personally owned and when Covid hit and killed the opening he just gave up it sounds like. And I'm sure not many chains are interested in buying locations right now.

[Dafonso7]

I wonder how long get back in business?

[Plutonic Panda]

If Edmond can support two movie theatres, one full sized one and one high end “boutique” type, why can’t the MWC/Del City support one? Surely they can. Regal Theatres can be VERY nice when done right. The one in downtown LA blows away anything in OKC.

[PoliSciGuy]

The economic demographics are, uh, slightly different between Edmond and Mid/Del

[Plutonic Panda]

The economic demographics are, uh, slightly different between Edmond and Mid/Del

I understand that but I mean I think that the area could support at least one movie theatre.

[bombermwc]

The economic demographics are, uh, slightly different between Edmond and Mid/Del

It's not just Mid-Del either, it's all of EOC. Find me a movie theater anywhere in that 150K person population zone.
Just Mid-Dell is 100k people alone. Find me somewhere else in the metro with that size population that doesn't have any sort of movie theater at all.

Warren was a but much, but I think it would have survived had it not been for COVID. People have been screaming for this ever since the TWO Heritage theaters closed. Remember, MWC used to have TWO theaters. And the screen count was about the same as this one Warren. There's been a drought ever since those two closed in the theater wars of the early 00's since they were traditional slope and not theater slope.

[Tritoon]

Another thing people forget is that EOC is that it has the largest employer in the state along with dozens of contractor who support it. Choctaw, Harrah and Jones are growing exponentially. Take a drive through there and you will be amazed at what you see. All of their shopping is mostly done in MWC. Even MWC has grown and been updated. I was driving through the other morning and tons of homes have been renovated in the older section.

Finally people don't really understand the size and population of the area. If you just think of what you see off the interstate it's very easy to underestimate what is there.

[bombermwc]

Exactly Tritoon. That view from the interstate is only a small fraction of MWC and actually misses the majority of the income in the area. There is ABSOLUTELY support for a theater here.

[John1744]

Regal will purchase the Warren Theater after all.

https://www.centraloklahomaweeklies....DX5MuYj6jbTCeE

I’m glad someone’s buying it but after seeing what they did to the other Warren’s I can’t help being a little disappointed it was them.

[Pete]

^

Very good news, especially the part about reopening very soon.

Thanks for posting.

[bombermwc]

The Beacon reports that it is open as of TODAY!

[Pete]

Showtimes:

https://www.regmovies.com/theatres/r...view-mode=list

[Pete]

Just went by there...

They opened yesterday (7/7) and their bar and concessions are available but the full kitchen won't open for a couple of weeks.

[bombermwc]

When i drove by this weekend, the lot was PACKED.

I go to the the most recent Start Wars movie here before everything hit the fan. And it was awesome!