AMC Brunswick Square 13
755 NJ-18,
East Brunswick,
NJ
08816
755 NJ-18,
East Brunswick,
NJ
08816
3 people
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Please update 808 seats and theatre called AMC Brunswick Square 13
I worked there as a relief projectionist from 1987 till around 1992.
This theatre was taken over by Howard Grant in 1993. GCC was the operator up until that time. The theatre was operated as a twin until the end of the summer of 1993. This was the last changeover house that I worked in on First Run. It used Century Projectors with Cinemation Pin-board automations. The last films to run as a twin were Rising Sun and Sleepless in Seattle. Earlier that summer was In the Line of Fire. The theatre was closed for conversion to a 5 plex in Sept 1993. The theatres were cut up. The larger theatre to the right was cut into three (larger auditorium in the front and two small theaters in the back) and the smaller theatre was cut into two (back to back). The footprint of the theatre had not changed from the GCC design. They built two single booths inside the front theatres that you had to enter through the auditorium on the right side theatre and from the hall for the left theatre. This new design was to open for Thanksgiving, but it didn’t until Feb 4th 1994. During this time the theatre was mostly finished, but waiting on town approval mostly to do with ADA compliance. This configuration stayed until 2000. Grant took over the McCrorey’s next door to the theatre. Four screens were added in the McCrorey’s and four more were added on the back in an entirely new addition and the 5 original theatres remained. They were converted to all stadium seating and the entire booth was connected on the second floor. The original lobby is still tucked away inside, but the lobby hallway, mall entrance, an outside entrance from McCrorey’s were all altered and do not look anything like the original design. A lot of the original GCC corrugated metal paneling is still inside the original screens and so are the original restrooms. Upstairs is exactly as GCC left it with the exception of the new booth connections through the new addition. In 2013, Starplex took over operation after a dispute with the Mall and original owners. Starplex ran the theatre until AMC bought StarPlex around 2015 in turn making the theatre an AMC Classic Theatre. It still is currently being operated as an AMC in the original configuration from 2000’s renovation. The theatre was never closed except during that first conversion in 1993 and has been in operation in one form or another since 1973.
Please update, theatre open on May 30, 1973 as the General Cinema Brunswick Square Twin. If you go to https://www.cinematour.com/tour/us/24382.html It was owned by General Cinema until 1993l It probably was closed for seven years.
6 screens opened on February 25th and 13 screens on March 17th, 2000.
This reopened as Mega Movies on February 25th, 2000 as per this article:
Found on Newspapers.com
In the Star Ledger movie clock on Friday Sept 6th, this theatre is now listed as “Luxury Cinemas 13”
Starplex has upgraded the auditoriums to digital projection and luxury seats (black leather recliners) – capacity has been greatly reduced, tonight we saw The Internship in an auditorium with 32 seats!
The lay out is pretty interesting – 1-4 on one side, on the other: 5-8 ahead and 9-13 to the right, comprising the old “Movies at Brunswick Square” subdivision of the original GCC. The theater still has a few GCC touches including the steel “curtains” in the lobby of the 9-13 side, along with a GCC style concession stand. Not sure if they have a picture window screen (I didn’t want to peep around too much) – but the bathrooms are original GCC in that wing… with much smaller doors and stalls. The letter (black on a white door) for the men’s room is still vintage GCC as well. Interesting complex!
The Ben & Jerry’s is gone, however the Nathins in the lobby is still there along with tables and arcade games. The D-BOX seats were removed with the addition of the leather recliners. Also to Starplex’s credit they lowered prices ($8.50 for full price adult evening admission). I’m happy they kept a few GCC things in tact for us cinema geeks!
Starplex Cinemas has taken over operation of the theatre, effective 5/3/12.
This theater is getting some D-BOX seats: View link
I worked as a projectionist for megamovies i’ve got to give them credit and say they gave it a 100% effort in making sure that each operator provided a perfect presentation. In the larger auditoriums seeing a movie is a great experiance.
Photo:
View link
Some of the auditoriums in this new space are okay, but there is at least one room that is barely bigger than a utility closet and seemed to be the place I kept getting stuck in any time I went to see a movie there. Therefore I gave up on it and started going elsewhere, much preferring the AMC New Brunswick on Route 1. Haven’t been there in four years, so maybe things have changed.
I’m looking for contact information for the owner of MegaMovies, George Grant. I want to ask George if he would donate a theatre for the screening of ‘Darfur Diaries’, a 1-hr documentary about lives of displaced people in Darfur, Sudan.
Can anyone help? Leslie
This theater was a GCC Brunswick Square Mall Theater. The GCC theater had two screens. 1-700 seat and 1-550 seat. The 700 seat was split into 3 theaters and the 550 was split in 2. These are still used and make up 5 of the 13 screens. They still have the GCC chairs in them. The other 8 screens were added later and have stadium seating.
It’s owned by George Grant, who used to own the Movie City chain, some of which were aquired by Clearview, another one (about a mile down Route 1) is closed. Mega Movies is his entire design and in some ways almost seems like the inspiration for the food court at National Amusements' Cinema De Lux, this one pre-dates their first suberban (ie: not The Bridge) Cinema De Lux, Island 16.
I haven’t been here in a while but it’s well run, comfortable, modern and non-corporate.
Nope — it’s certainly not a treasure, but it is a clean and well run “facility.”
I was here last weekend to see a film. It is a somewhat unusual suburban mulpiplex. It also appears to be an indy but I could be wrong.
Given large multiplexes, I’ll choose this one over the nearby New Brunswick on Route 1.
Some time in the mid to early 90’s this cinema opened as Movies at Brunwick Square Mall, with 5 screens, deviding the General Cinema house (which I think was a twin). The cinema then closed a few years later and was tottally retransformed in to Mega Movies (even though it looks like a National Amusements house and has a Nathan’s and a Ben & Jerry’s it’s not, although I wonder if somehow this one inspired Cinema De Lux?).
And this one opened way before February 2004! It replaced the GCC Brunswick Square Mall Cinema.
I don’t think new multiplexes located in suburban malls qualify as ‘Cinema Treasures’.