Centennial Lakes 8

7311 France Avenue S.,
Edina, MN 55435

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: AMC Theatres, General Cinema Corp.

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Centennial Lakes 8

This was a rather generic General Cinema theater opened August 17, 1990, which offered high-priced popcorn and snacks alongside first-run movies in a nothing-special atmosphere. Towards the end, the theater was kept remarkably nice, but when you consider the much, much nicer 16-plex (also AMC) two blocks down the road, it’s pretty much a given.

One cool thing about this theater is that they weren’t afraid to let a movie run a little long – the Centennial Lakes was the only theater to still have “The Passion Recut” after the first week it ran. The Cenennial Lakes 8 was closed March 31, 2005. It’ll have to remain a distant memory now that developers have decided to knock the building down to add to the already-uppity shopping complex that blocks France Avenue of its roots. Remember the France Avenue Drive-In? Yeah, you may be the only one.

Contributed by Jesse Hoheisel

Recent comments (view all 14 comments)

MinnesotaJones
MinnesotaJones on January 14, 2009 at 8:55 am

In the early 90’s – it was state of the art. Saw many good first runs there. T2 for example looked and sounded great at Centennial Lakes.

csnaza
csnaza on August 30, 2009 at 11:16 pm

I worked for General Cinema Corperation at the old Southdale Cinema prior to moving to Centennial Lakes 8. The 1st showing at the “closed” Grand Opening was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in 70mm. Awesome!!
Great times made better with good people!
I left the company in 1992 and had not been back until I saw Pirates of the Caribbean in 2003 after GCC had been bought out by AMC.
Too bad it closed…

northstar16
northstar16 on October 13, 2010 at 8:48 pm

Here is a photo of the theater taken at the time it first opened in 1990:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/a2z_mpls/3495409557/

It was demolished several years ago and a new retail development now occupies the site.

Mike Rogers
Mike Rogers on October 13, 2010 at 8:54 pm

Jesse, I think GCC’s popcorn and concessions were in line with other theatres.I was enjoyed running a GCC operation.First Class.

TLSLOEWS
TLSLOEWS on October 14, 2010 at 6:51 pm

Its still amazing to me that a theatre built new in 1990 is already gone.I can see that the theatre might not make it,but it seems a building that new could have been used for something else.

Mike Rogers
Mike Rogers on March 1, 2011 at 8:51 pm

It might be in a crummy part of town like Regency Exchange 8 a GCC operation that lasted a little over 10 years.

Pichu8boy
Pichu8boy on July 7, 2013 at 7:24 pm

This site is now Pinstripes.

Chris1982
Chris1982 on June 20, 2014 at 8:21 pm

Mike, this theatre wasn’t in a crummy part of town, AMC had a 16 plex just down the road.

rivest266
rivest266 on January 16, 2017 at 3:45 am

This opened on August 17th, 1990. Grand opening ad in the photo section.

donaldsjerven
donaldsjerven on May 30, 2017 at 1:42 am

Checked some old movie listings from online Star Tribune. Last day of business seems to have been Thursday March 31, 2005. I used to live across France from it and moved that same day. Both me and the theater were gone on April 1. No joke.

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