Carmike Cardinal Cinemas I-II-III
630 Executive Place,
Fayetteville,
NC
28303
630 Executive Place,
Fayetteville,
NC
28303
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Star Wars was first-run at CCMC, but it absolutely played at the King and the Cardinal. My mother was rear-ended turning into our driveway coming back from seeing it at the King.
Eddie Murphy in BEVERLY HILLS COP played here first-run on December 5,1984 when the Cardinal I & II were under Plitt Southern Theatres.
Cineplex Odeon turned the Cardinal 3 into a second run discount theatre and so did Carmike Cinemas until its closing in 1994.
LEAVE to CARMIKE to close a theatre…REMEMBERING PLITT THEATRES is on FACEBOOK.
This theater has not been demolished; it presently houses Manna Church.
ctwrenn: Actually the original STAR WARS movie played first-run at the Cross Creek Mall Cinema I-II-III in Fayetteville on June 17,1977 and played there for 27 weeks. It did not play anywhere at the Cardinal.
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK played first-run at Fayetteville’s Bordeaux Cinema I-II-III on May 18,1980. It was one of five cities in the state of North Carolina that played it first-run in 70mm Dobly Stereo.
THE RETURN OF THE JEDI played first-run at Fayetteville’s Cross Creek Mall Cinemas I-II-III on May 25,1983. It played on 2 screens at Cross Creek Mall and it DID NOT play first-run at neither the Cardinal NOR the Bordeaux.
I have the ads:
ctwrenn: actually I hate to bust your bubble(and your pride),but I have the original dates and original ads from the Fayetteville Observer to where STAR WARS played first-run. It did NOT, I repeat it did NOT played at the King Theatre!!! NOR did STAR WARS played at neither the King Theatre nor the Cardinal Theatres I & II during it’s re-release.
The first-run booking and the original engagement showing of STAR WARS played at the Cross Creek Mall Cinema I-II-III in Fayetteville on June 17,1977. It played there for 27 weeks!!!
ctwrenn… The first-run booking of STAR WARS (1977) in Fayetteville was at the Cross Creek Mall Cinema I-II-III.
actually raysson not to bust you bubble but when Star Wars opened there in fayetteville it did so at the King theatreI remember cause i was there opening weekend
The Premiere Attraction for the Cardinal Theater’s grand opening in 1971 “SKIN GAME” was gone within a week. This was a horrible way to open a movie with one of the worst James Garner films ever made.
The Following Week,it was definitely replaced by a slew of exclusive engagement MGM Classics(all were presented in 70MM)from “Doctor Zhivago” to “Ben-Hur”, “ 2001”, and “Gone With The Wind”.
raysson: Thank you for the clarification about it being acquired by Carmike as part of its purchase from Cineplex-Odeon before the closing! That was my suspicion, so, it is good to have confirmation!
I saw STAR TREK II:THE WRATH OF KHAN here first-run at the Cardinal Twin in DOBLY STEREO!
The cinema opened on November 24,1971 with the premiere attraction of “SKIN GAME” starring James Garner.
The coming attractions during its grand opening were the exclusive Fayetteville engagement showings of: “GONE WITH THE WIND” “BEN-HUR” “DOCTOR ZHIVAGO” “2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY”
Also coming attractions as well:
Walter Matthau in “KOTCH”
Yul Brenner in “CATLOW”
David Lean’s “RYAN’S DAUGHTER”
It was also known as the Cardinal Triple in the 1990’s under Carmike Cinemas.
This was one of several “Ultravision” theatres under ABC Theatres. In closed in 1994 when it last operated under Carmike Cinemas as a three-screen cinema.
HISTORY:
1971-1978
ABC Southeastern Theatres
1978-1986
Plitt Southern Theatres
1986-1990 Cineplex Odeon Corporation
1990-1994
Carmike Cinemas
*Not only did this ULTRAVISION theatre get the MGM product of re-release classics presented for the first time in Eastern North Carolina in 70MM,but also the Cardinal Theatre also got the re-releases of other exclusive engagements presented for the first time in Fayetteville,when the Cardinal was a single screen cinema with a seating capacity of 789 back in 1971.
The exclusive 70MM engagement showing of other re-releases as a Eastern North Carolina first were:
“MY FAIR LADY”, “LAWRENCE OF ARABIA”, “WEST SIDE STORY”,
and “THE TEN COMMANDMENTS”.
The Cardinal Theatre upon its official grand opening in 1971 got a lot of the MGM product of re-release classics. These films were presented in 70MM and it was the first in Eastern North Carolina and the Greater Fayetteville area. These movies were presented as the MGM four-pack of re-release classics that were a first in the Fayetteville area. Movies ranging from “Gone With The Wind”, to “Ben-Hur”,“Doctor Zhivago”,and “2001: A Space Odyssey” all presented in 70MM and 6 Track Stereophonic Sound as a Eastern North Carolina Exclusive Engagement Showing at the Cardinal Theatre in 1971.
From the November 24,1971 Fayetteville Observer: THE COMING ATTRACTIONS TO EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA’S FIRST ULTRAVISION THEATRE…. 1. The 70MM-6 Track Engagement Re-Releases of the following: “2001: A Space Odyssey” “Ben-Hur” “Doctor Zhivago” “Gone With The Wind”
Walter Matthau in “KOTCH”
Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn in “MY FAIR LADY” in 70MM!
This will be corrected very soon. I ad in my possession the original ad for the Cardinal Theatre’s Official Grand Opening from November 24,1971. The Cardinal did not open in 1969,but it opened in 1971. The feature attraction for it’s grand opening was the James Garner western “Skin Game”.
FYI:
“Star Wars” during its North Carolina engagement,did not play at the Cardinal Theatre in 1977. “Star Wars” however played during its engagement at the Cross Creek Mall Cinemas in June,1977 . Cross Creek Mall was part of General Cinema Theatres. In June of 1977,“Star Wars” played as an exclusive engagement in these North Carolina cities of Fayetteville,Greensboro,Asheville and Winston-Salem. Repeat: It did not play at the Cardinal Theatre.
“The Empire Strikes Back” and “The Return of the Jedi”,did not play at the Cardinal. Both movies during their theatrical run,played at the Bordeaux Cinemas during their Fayetteville engagement.