Out With IMAX, In With Cinemark

In mid to early December, a new Cinemark XD, Extreme Digital Cinema theatre will open on Cannery Row in the Edgewater Packing Company building. The theatre will be located on 640 Wave Street, Monterey, CA 93940, the exact location of Monterey’s old IMAX theaters which closed in November 2010.

Co-Founder Fred Weinert of the old IMAX theaters wrote to vendors in 2010 stating that capital sources were drained, cash flow was negative, and there was a lack of attractive programming. The IMAX Theater spent $7 million dollars on a project that only lasted two years and continually fought to get Hollywood films less than eight weeks old on their screen.

What will be different this time with the arrival of Cinemark?

Well, to begin, the theater opening will be just in time for the holiday season and upcoming films.
Alan Stock, Cinemark’s Chief Executive Officer stated, “The new Cinemark Monterey Cannery Row XD theatre will be the perfect complement to our existing Century Monterey 13 theater and will open in time for this holiday’s season’s biggest movies, including Sherlock Holmes, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, War Horse, and many others.”

The Cinemark theatre coming to Monterey Cannery Row in XD will offer visitors and customers the chance to view Hollywood’s hottest films in one of the largest auditoriums in the city. The Golden State Theatre located in downtown Monterey remains the largest auditorium ever built on the Monterey Peninsula.

“We are pleased to welcome Cinemark to Cannery Row with their newest and most exciting style of movie experience, Cinemark XD: Extreme Digital Cinema. As the Central Coast’s premiere visitor destination, we know that our 3-4 million visitors a year and local residents will appreciate and enjoy the state-of-the-art technology in 2D and 3D movie viewing,” said Ted J. Balestreri, CEO of Cannery Row Company.

In addition to being one of the largest auditoriums in the city, Bill Grim at Cannery Row Company made clear that the auditorium will complete entertainment viewing with 60 feet wide and 30 feet tall wall-to-wall, ceiling-to-floor screen and 300 plush seats.

The digital images will be delivered by a Doremi server and a Barco DLP digital projector, which is said to offer the brightest light in the film industry.

Every week the XD auditorium will play the newest movies in both 2D and 3D pictures. The opening of the Monterey Cannery Row auditorium will mark the fifteenth to open in California. Cinemark has opened over 50 new XD auditoriums across 16 states in the country. This is unlike that of the old IMAX theatre, which ran as an independent theater.

After speaking to students around the California State University, Monterey Bay campus, it appeared as though many students were unaware of the new addition to Monterey.

Free parking will be available for Monterey County residents after 4PM, seven days a week, in the Wave Street garage located across from the theater. All others can park in metered parking around and near Cannery Row.

Bill Grim is currently unaware as to whether or not student discounts and pricing will be available but he would like to assume so. Bill also stated, “it is really exciting to have Cinemark open and Cannery Row is the premier destination in the Central Coast of California.”

When the theatre opens, customers can check for show time information and purchase tickets for the Cinemark Monterey Cannery Row XD online at www.cinemark.com.

Popular snacks and preferred options such as freshly-popped popcorn, Coca-Cola brand beverages, and America’s favorite candy brands will be available for purchase once inside the building.