Movie chain Alamo Drafthouse will open its fourth NYC location July 22 in Staten Island. The nine-screen, 893-seat theater includes the Flying Guillotine, a kung fu-themed collaboration with Wu-Tang Clan founder RZA that’s part bar and part martial arts museum.
A soft opening runs through July 27 with 25% off food and non-alcoholic beverages as staff gets up to speed.
The theater follows the Austin-based chain’s locations in Yonkers (2013), downtown Brooklyn (2016) and lower Manhattan (2021), occupying 44,726 square feet of the Boulevard Shopping Center at 2636 Hylan Blvd. “Our Staten Island theater has been a long time coming, and I think we’ve got something that’s really going to wow our New York guests,” says Alamo CEO Shelli Taylor.
Alamo announced a new theater in Boston yesterday and is set to open a string of locations including in the D.C. area,, St. Louis and Chicago.
The chain plays a mix of wide releases, arthouse fare and curated content. Staten Island programming will also include RZA’s Saturday Shaolin Theater — a weekly afternoon series “inspired by RZA’s personal martial arts favorites,” the company said. Titles include Enter The Dragon, Mystery of Chess Boxing, The Master of the Flying Guillotine, Drunken Masters I & II starring Jackie Chan and Janus Films’ new digital restoration of The Heroic Trio.
“The modern action genre was undeniably born out of the kung fu movie explosion of the early 1970s,” says Tim League, Alamo founder/executive chairman. “We love this legacy and want to celebrate and share its rich history.”
Alamo theaters often sport eclectic features like century-old wax figure exhibits in Brooklyn, and an archive of letterpress film advertising plates in lower Manhattan as part of the The Press Room bar and museum. Bars have become increasingly popular features as cinemas seek to draw moviegoers, especially younger demos.