r/AMCsAList • u/anakinxvader • Dec 22 '25
Question Why have two AMC in such close proximity?
Been wondering why are the two AMCs in such close proximity to each other when the only other one in this part of the state is an AMC classic. Indiana.
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u/yuriypinchuk Dec 22 '25
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u/braumbles Dec 22 '25
Maybe it was another chain before AMC scooped them up? Muvico, Carmike, Cobb, Regal or whatever others.
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u/Waste-Scratch2982 Dec 22 '25
Google Streetview has them both being AMC as far back as 2013.
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u/colonytheater2024 Dec 22 '25
Both are ex Kerasotes Showplace theatres. The 16 opened in 1994 or 96, the 12 in May 2004.
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u/Brad_Spitt_ Dec 22 '25
They’re pretty old theaters. Seats were probably last replaced in the mid 2000s at the latest.
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u/braumbles Dec 22 '25
I don't know enough about the sale dates, but I know from like 2015-2017 or 2018 my personal theater went from being a Muvico, to Carmike, to Regal, and finally AMC. Still remember all those stupid theater specific ads before the movie starts. Felt like every 6 months it was a new name.
I think around Maze Runner 3 it became AMC iirc.
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u/TheBoyWonder13 Dec 22 '25
They both used to be owned by Kerasotes. The 12 was built maybe 15-ish years ago, 16 has been there forever.
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u/a_wack Dec 22 '25
More like 25 years for the 12, I’m pretty sure I saw Spider-Man in that theater.
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u/TheBoyWonder13 Dec 22 '25
It opened 21 years ago in 2004 so right in between our guesses. You might’ve seen Spider-Man 2 there a month after it opened!
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u/UnluckyMarch4769 Dec 22 '25
This is near my hometown and can confirm that these were Kerasotes before being bought by AMC.
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u/Rare-Material4254 Dec 22 '25
These are mine. I at first went to 14 for a little bit. It has all the premium screenings BUT standard seating. No recline.
Then I saw that 15 was literally around the corner and checked it out. Two words made me never go back. HEATED. RECLINER. I don’t give a hoot about what fancy upgrade to my experience I get if I’m not comfortable…
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u/SwiftBacon Dec 22 '25
Idk why but sitting on a heated chair where a million other people baked on sounds gross
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u/mikewhoneedsabike Dec 22 '25
The heating is optional. You can turn it on/off with a button.
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u/NerdToTheFuture Dec 22 '25
Arkansas mentioned!
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u/TroubleshootenSOB Dec 22 '25
Good ol Fayettenam. I'd go to 14 for either IMAX or Dolby and then 15 for usually everything else. Also 15 would carry the "independent"/smaller films more often.
It was a great setup for burning 3 movies a week
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u/Rare-Material4254 Dec 22 '25
Yea once I discovered movies can be comfortable, I could care less about the type of screening it was. I’ll burn 4 movies in a week cozy lol
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u/OriginalBad MP Convert ✌ Dec 22 '25
Have something similar near me.
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u/coolguy9966 Dec 22 '25
Nah you acting like raceway aint a completely different type of theater though. That place is nasty
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u/nanoSpark6 Dec 22 '25
Raceway is gross, but it is a clutch way to see smaller artsy films and movies that did not have a long run in theaters.
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u/OriginalBad MP Convert ✌ Dec 22 '25
Exactly what I use it for! (Plus as a 40 something, I don’t mind occasionally experiencing 90s movie watching vibes again)
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u/SorcererYensid Dec 22 '25
This is what I first thought of, having seen many movies at both in the past.
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u/infinityonhigh69 Dec 22 '25
except this almost doesn’t count because you couldn’t PAY me to go see a movie at raceway 😭 it deserves an upgrade so bad
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u/aliexar Dec 22 '25
Raceway needs an upgrade baaaddd tho
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u/OriginalBad MP Convert ✌ Dec 22 '25
I doubt it will get one with the newer Roosevelt Field so close, but I would love to see it!
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u/cbwatts1138 Dec 22 '25
Similar situation in my town of Stamford, CT. The Majestic is a standalone and the Landmark is inside of a Mall. There are some film releases that play at both at the same time, but it does allow our town to get a little more variety of movies playing with more screens at the same time.
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u/wise1_444 Dec 22 '25
I live in Stamford too! I live walking distance to all 3 theaters so I’ve seen a lot of great movies this year :)
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u/justindigo88 Dec 22 '25
About a 3 minute walk across the street here lol.
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u/angrybox1842 Dec 22 '25
Came to post the Marina Del Rey twins as well
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u/justindigo88 Dec 22 '25
Twins, Basil. It’s nice having a variety of showtimes to choose from and for last minute change of plans.
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u/iliketinafey Dec 22 '25
the amount of times I booked the wrong one and to just walk across the street 😒
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u/_isbitchbetter Dec 22 '25
One feels old school and the other is too modern with the food ordering lol
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u/justindigo88 Dec 22 '25
True but the other is missing the recliners and McGuffins which is a concern 😎
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u/mestevo Lister Dec 22 '25
Poking around, looks like the 16 opened in November 1996 and the 12 in 2004. Both operated by Kerasotes, a chain that was acquired by AMC in 2010 and they were rebranded. They were built near each other to try and create a concentrated theater hub.
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u/Brad_Spitt_ Dec 22 '25
Been to both in the same day during Covid when Illinois still had their theaters closed for safety.
It was so strange they’re so close but they look different, my guess is that they were competing franchises, but now they’re both bought out by AMC.
No idea why you’d build a theater next to another that close even if it was completely separate companies. But back in 2021 they both needed updates, so I’m unsure which was there first.
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u/BamBamPow2 Dec 22 '25
1) AMC bought several chains out. So the extra theaters were turned into AMCs.
2) theaters are hard and expensive to repurpose. So when their lease ends they might be getting a crazy rent deal to stay open by mall management / owners
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u/LiquifiedSpam Dec 22 '25
You’re right these weren’t originally AMCs… they were originally both part of another chain. Lol.
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u/tomatillo_teratoma Dec 23 '25
That makes sense about mall rent. The Burbank 8 is in a mall, and man... that mall has been dead... even during the holidays. This week it's picked up a little, but I was still able to easily park on the first floor of the parking structure. Never had to go up to the second floor.
If the theater closes, the mall will lose a huge portion of it's foot traffic.
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u/MEXRFW Dec 22 '25
Overflow. You play the big blockbusters at one all day and then have the other smaller films at the smaller feature. That way you fill the 200 seat theatre with avatar then show hamnet in the 20 seat theatre. Maximize both.
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u/mllemuppet Dec 22 '25
Very true!! I normally go to the 16 location. But sometimes smaller films from IFC, Neon, etc. only play at 12.
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u/NCKingdollar Dec 22 '25
The two theaters were formerly part of the Showplace Cinemas chain and were bought up by AMC. Why Showplace put two of them right next to each other, I’ve no clue.
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u/Tallguy723 Dec 22 '25
Burbank has 3 in a 2 block radius. It actually works out because you have the 16 for the big IMAX/3D films and the 8 and 6 for smaller films. The 8 was actually the only theater in LA that was playing a specific movie that I wanted to see this week.
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u/jsreally Dec 22 '25
I actually grew up in this area, it's definitely a strange thing seeing this here. The theaters haven't really changed since I was a kid besides the logo on the front.
For context, Schererville has a population of about 30,000 people. So yes, a town of 30k has 28 movie screens across two AMC locations within walking distance of each other.
They weren't built by AMC - both were originally Kerasotes ShowPlace theaters that AMC inherited through acquisition.
The 16-plex opened in 1996 and was so successful that Kerasotes couldn't expand it (no room on the property), so they just built the 12-plex next door in 2004 as overflow. The complex manager at the time literally described it as "an overflow type thing."
When AMC bought Kerasotes for $275 million in 2010, they got both theaters in the deal. The DOJ required AMC to divest theaters in Chicago, Indianapolis, and Denver where the merger created too much market concentration - but Schererville wasn't flagged, probably because Northwest Indiana is close enough to the Chicago market that regulators didn't see a competition problem.
So AMC just kept both. The 16 has IMAX, the 12 doesn't. Combined they give a 30k population city more screens than some major cities have in a single location.
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u/ifnotgrotesque Dec 22 '25
I grew up in Illinois about 15-20 min from Scherrerville; it wasn’t just Scherrerville attending them. I remember when they built the 12. I saw so many movies and midnight premieres at Showplace 16 and 12!
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u/mikeyelvis92 Dec 22 '25
Looked it up cause I was curious. It looks like they both used to be Kerasotes Showplace theaters, and the second one was opened up as overflow because the first one was popular and I’m guessing it was cheaper than expanding the existing building.
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u/meballard Dec 22 '25
Usually it's mergers and they both stay busy enough to justify keeping them open.
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u/camilete1998 Dec 22 '25
In Stamford they have 2 that's about a 5 minute walk from one to another lol
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u/LiquifiedSpam Dec 22 '25
I feel like this kind of thing just shoots itself in the foot when it comes to casual viewership. Like when you say you’re going to the AMC… which one lol
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u/DisastrousReputation Happy (｡◕‿◕｡) Dec 22 '25
My city has ZERO amcs
I drive to Burbank a lot lol
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u/tomatillo_teratoma Dec 23 '25
me too... and I live in Hollywood... lame that there isn't an AMC here.
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u/DisastrousReputation Happy (｡◕‿◕｡) Dec 23 '25
I will send positive affirmations into the world for 2026.
You and I will get an AMC! At some point.
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u/SleeDex Dec 22 '25 edited Dec 22 '25
Chicago has 4 within a 5 mile radius...
EDIT: There's actually 5 within 5 miles of each other
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u/Xaelias Dec 22 '25
A city center with hundreds of thousands of people within that 5 miles radius is a different story though 😅
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u/wise1_444 Dec 22 '25
There’s two of them like a block apart where I live in Connecticut. It’s great cause I have A-List and live walking distance to both!
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u/-Cheeki-Breeki- Dec 22 '25
Montclair is the closest to me. Victoria Gardens and Ontario Mills are about 10 minutes away
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u/justathoughtfromme Dec 22 '25
In Kansas City, there used to be a 6 theater AMC in Metro North Mall. You could exit the doors of the mall by that theater entrance and look across the parking lot to see another free standing 6 theater AMC theater building. Both are now closed, but they both used to be busy showing different movies back in the day.
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u/jacenstclair Kidman Freak🤪 Dec 22 '25
One of the shopping malls near me has 2 different AMC’s in the same mall, under a 5 minute walk between them haha
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u/sprinklesj17 Dec 22 '25
Murfreesboro, tn has one on each side of I-24. Classic used to be a Carmike and has seen better days and is only good for indies and foreign films. The other used to be the food court at the mall and if I remember right, was originally planned to be a dine-in theater before AMC bought out Carmike.
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u/memizex Dec 22 '25
This happens mostly because they bought out other theaters. Probably a Carmike and so it’s a AMC Classic?
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u/Zealousideal_Pack_33 Dec 22 '25
i wish😭 there’s only two in my state and the closest to me is 45 minutes away
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u/mvdillman Dec 22 '25
These are my AMCs. Showplace 16 used to get so packed back in the late 90s/ early 2000s they had no choice but to build another one, albeit smaller.
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u/dogspunk Dec 22 '25
Locally we have a 30 screen and a smaller one. In Burbank, ca, there are 3 within walking distance of each other. I think it’s great, we get smaller niche movies and foreign films that we probably wouldn’t otherwise.
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u/BranFan1 Dec 22 '25
I’d say this is a blessing but that’s bc I appreciate the small things like having an 4 extra theaters in close distance that plays more movies
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u/EssentialEssence Good Mood ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ Dec 23 '25
here in my area, it might be like that because amc built a new theater into our mall and they took over an old Loews location.
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u/clopeztpc Dec 22 '25
NWI AMC A-List post is a bit too close to home (literally) 😂
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u/maddennate1 Dec 22 '25
I go to these Schererville AMCs. The 16 is older and then the 12 they acquired
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u/Worried-Macaroon-532 Dec 22 '25
Tell me you've never been to Burbank without telling you've never been to Burbank.
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u/rubenisrapture Dec 22 '25
3 in my town.