B&B Theatres and CJ 4DPlex have announced the development of several new ScreenX theaters located in B&B multiplexes across the U.S. The new openings will result in a total of eight ScreenX auditoriums across B&B multiplexes by 2023.
Earlier this month, B&B Theatres, the sixth largest exhibitor in the U.S., opened its latest facility, the newly renovated Blacksburg 11 theatre in Blacksburg, Virginia. B&B acquired the Blacksburg multiplex in fall of 2020 with a vision to upgrade and enhance the entire moviegoing experience for the vibrant college town, but the project was delayed by the pandemic. Blacksburg features B&B’s signature premium large format experience, the Grand Screen.
I last spoke with B&B Theatres executive vice president Brock Bagby in April as businesses across the country were shutting down in response to COVID-19. At that time all of their theatres were dark and the company had furloughed nearly 2,000 employees. I recently emailed Bagby to see if he would agree to a follow-up interview. His response was to say yes, adding, “But it’s been a rough seven months.” B&B Theatres, the sixth largest theatre chain in North America, is not just any independent cinema chain. For nearly a century, the company has understood better than most of their competitors that they don’t just show movies; they are in show business. They believe that movies are magic and their theatres amplify the experience like few others.
Crises bring out the worst and the best in people. The history of B&B Theatres began in 1924 when a man named Elmer Bills opened his first theatre in Salisbury, Missouri. A decade later he hired a boy named Sterling Bagby as a concessions clerk. Bagby eventually went on to start his own theatre company and for the next roughly forty years the families were friendly competitors. In 1980 the two families merged their companies into what is now B&B Theatres – Bills and Bagby – and the business is now run solely by the Bagby family. One thing that remained constant throughout the past century in both of those companies was the idea of family, which included their employees.
This Thursday, in conjunction with the official grand opening of B&B Theatres’ newly-built, state-of-the-art, flagship Liberty 12 location in Liberty, Missouri – the largest ScreenX auditorium in the world will open to the public. It will be located on a screen measuring more than four stories tall and seven stories wide, with the capacity to seat 244 attendees.
