AMC Orange Mall 6
2320 N. Tustin Avenue,
Orange,
CA
92865
2320 N. Tustin Avenue,
Orange,
CA
92865
5 people
favorited this theater
When the AMC Orange Mall 6 opened on December 16, 1971 it was billed as the West Coast’s first six-screen complex. The Orange County Register said that of AMC’s 203 theatres, this was their sixth six-screen operation.
This came a few years after they opened a four-screen complex in La Habra with irregularly shaped auditoriums and poor sight lines, which indeed made movie going there “complex”.
The 1800 seats at the Orange theatre, which was situated in a separate building outside the mall, were divided among rectangular auditoriums, giving a vast improvement over their effort in La Habra. My positive memories of the theatre were the super-fast, well-staffed concession stands which gave you almost immediate service. Among the opening movies were crowd-pleasers of the 70s such as “Billy Jack” and “The Summer of ‘42”.
The last day the Orange Mall 6 was in the theatre listings was April 20, 1997. The building was later demolished.
In late 1998 AMC opened a new theatre in Orange, five miles away, AMC 30 at The Block.
Contributed by
Ron Pierce
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Recent comments (view all 14 comments)
AMC ran the theatre as a relatively successful discount house in it’s later years. It’s closing coresponded not only with the mall’s redevelopment, but also with AMC’s expansion of their Fullerton venue. The staff and management were offered positions at the Fullerton 20 (expansion opened a couple of weeks after the Orange Mall 6 closing), but only one individual accepted the offer.
I have great memories of seeing movie here when I was a kid, including “Hot Lead and Cold Feet” with Don Knotts, “Hooper” with Burt Reynolds, and “Superman II."
As a teen I got to see lots of great horror movies here such as "A Nightmare On Elm Street,” “Dawn of the Dead,” “The Evil Dead,” and “Friday the 13th The Final Chapter.”
Also, Midnite Movies were a big deal at the AMC Orange Mall 6 Theaters, showing stuff regularly on Saturday nights like “Rocky Horror,” “Eraserhead,” and “The Song Remains the Same.” Good times!
This is from Boxoffice magazine in August 1971:
ORANGE, CALIF.-Construction got underway in early August on American Multi Cinema’s first sixplex in California, the Mall of Orange, on Tustin Avenue at Heim in Orange. The fourth AMC multi-theater in California, the Mall of Orange will have three 300-seat auditoriums, two 196-seat auditoriums and one 293-seat auditorium. American Multi Cinemas has scheduled a December 22 opening date for the entertainment complex.
I had the nonor of being the closing House manager when the little closed. I actually got to open the Marina Pacifica 12 and close the Orange Mall 6 within a 3 month period..good times. I remember a crew from Florida carving up the theater and taking the seats and equipment to South America. The lobby had a huge hole in the floor and some guy walked thru this incredible mess and asked the memorable question. “What time is the first show of "Evita?”
I still remember the first movie I saw at this theater when I moved to the area back in 1984…. Night of the Comet.
My friends and I used to hang out at this theatre. Also, used to go to “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” when it was shown there.
Frequented this theater throughout the ‘70s & early ‘80s, usually after Saturday trips to the mall & nearby Kmart. There was a McDonald’s & Del Taco across the street where we usually got lunch before the flick. Can remember seeing quite a few Disney flicks here, along with Hooper, The Muppet Movie, Time Bandits, Supergirl and Iceman (1984). Want to say the last thing I saw here was Forget Paris with Billy Crystal when it was a bargain theater.
Grand opening ad posted.
Forgot about The Final Countdown & Raise the Titanic.
“Iceman” starring Timothy Hutton & “Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter” both opened at the Orange Mall 6 40 years ago today (April 13, 1984).