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I am contemplating reopening the old theatre in my town (closed when the megaplex moved in) under a cinema drafthouse concept. I am trying to find the demographic info that will help me build my income projection. I figure I can work the restaurant numbers off the projected movie attendance. Can anyone point me to where I can get numbers on movie attendance within a given population. If anyone out there can help me out with that or even with industry data on the cinema/restaurant concept I would appreciate it.

Hi WPG. cinema pub's are a sub genre and almost impossible to get any verifiable numbers. There are some big chains but they are in high pop areas. So: you are on your own. The best way to estimate population (aside from reading through all these posts and finding those relevant) is to add up all your screens within the 5 or 10 mile ring around your site. Divide that # into your population and you have the idea of a possible # of available customers. But cin-pubs are a breed unto themselves and really a reflection of the mgmt. Read everything that is here. best of luck!

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Mike Hurley
www.bigscreenbiz.com

wpg735

We can't help you with your business plan, but we'd love to help you with the design of the project! We've done some similar projects; art houses which have full restaurants, dinner theatres, theatres with licensed cafes, etc. We've also seen some interesting ideas in other countries where we've done work.

Mesbur&smithians,

I know this is a hard question to answer but.
what is the average cost on renovation an older theatre. circa 1927 with a few later updates (but the wiring is still 1927)

We did a renovation of a 1936 vintage theatre in Cleveland recently which we split into 6 auditoriums, all stadiums. I believe the cost excluding fixturing and equipment, was around $55 to $60 per square foot.

Thanks,
that gives me an idea of what I would be looking at.

We added a 3rd screen and started with raw interior space the cost including everything from tunnel, seats, projection, screen etc... was 145,000.00 34.00 per sq ft.

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Mike Hurley
www.bigscreenbiz.com

Wpg735: I believe that there is a newly opened Cinema Grill in your area - (Parma). Perhaps they could help you with your research? You might want to visit and see how they do it. Possibly even work for them to learn as much as you can. As Mike says, this is a highly specialized subset of the theater industry and one that most of us are not all that familiar with.

Thanks, I will look them up. There are not very many here in the Cleveland burbs.

Check out www.granadamoviegrill.com
Yhey started in Dallas in a one screener.