The new owner of the now-closed ShowPlace Icon Theatre at The Boro in Tysons has been revealed.
Look Dine-In Cinemas has signed a deal to take over the 1,795-seat movie theater at 1667 Silver Hill Drive, the Washington Business Journal reports. The theater is slated to reopen on Friday (June 21) after ShowPlace held its final screenings this past Sunday (June 16), FFXnow was told.
A spokesperson for The Boro confirmed the accuracy of WBJ’s report.
ShowPlace announced that it had ceased operations in Tysons yesterday (Monday) in a brief email to members of its rewards programs.
“ShowPlace Icon Tysons would like to express our sincerest gratitude and appreciation to our guests for your unwavering support, loyalty, and enthusiasm over the years,” the company said in the message shared with FFXnow.
Featuring 14 auditoriums, a bistro and lounge, ShowPlace opened at The Boro in February 2020, just in time for the COVID-19 pandemic to disrupt nearly every aspect of society, including the film industry. The theater finally managed to reopen and stay open in April 2021, but evidently, it was unable to sustain its business.
Its successor, Look Dine-In, has made a practice of buying up defunct movie theaters, launching in 2021 by taking over three leases in California from Studio Movie Grill — the former employer of its founder, Brian Schultz, according to Deadline.
The company expanded to 13 locations with its takeover of the former Bow Tie Cinemas at Reston Town Center, its first site in Virginia. The Reston theater opened on Nov. 2, 2023 with 11 screening rooms that can seat 45 to 120 people each.
For its Tysons theater, Look has retained ShowPlace’s 14 existing auditoriums, which can seat 45 to 226 people. All of them have recliner seats with heaters and adjustable headrests, and four “PX premium experience” rooms will be outfitted with wall-to-wall screens, “crisp, clear” digital projection systems and surround sound technology, according to a press release.
No renovations were undertaken before the theater’s reopening on Friday, a Look spokesperson told FFXnow, but enhanced food options and the mobile technology that allows patrons to order food and drinks from their seats, will be added “in the near future.”
The menu includes burgers, salads, chicken wings, pizza, quesadillas and more with some variation by location, per Look’s website. Drinks include beer, wine, cocktails, mocktails and “boozy” shakes.
“We are thrilled to bring our unique blend of dining and entertainment to movie enthusiasts at our new Tysons at The Boro location,” Look Dine-In Cinemas Chief Marketing Officer James Meredith said in the release. “We look forward to delivering unforgettable experiences for our guests and setting a new standard for cinema entertainment in the region.”
The movie theater industry has been in flux since the pandemic. Though there have been some big hits, including “Top Gun: Maverick” in 2022 and last year’s one-two punch of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” a quiet May prompted some hand-wringing about how to get audiences into theaters, especially after Hollywood studios delayed releases in the wake of the 2023 actor and writer strikes.
To entice moviegoers out of their homes, chains like Look Dine-In or Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas — which is being acquired by Sony Pictures — have attempted to add an air of luxury to the theatrical experience, offering more upscale food, reclining seats, enhanced technology, and event programming.
However, approximately 4,800 screens have been lost in recent years, leaving even some major localities like Detroit, Michigan, and New Haven, Connecticut, home of Yale University, without theaters.
At the moment, a lack of movie theaters isn’t an issue in Tysons. In addition to the incoming Look Dine-in, the area has an AMC Theatres in Tysons Corner Center, and another dine-in theater, CMX CinéBistro, opened last year in Tysons Galleria.
Hat tip to Adam Rubinstein
