Cedar Falls Movie Theater Faces Abrupt Closure

If you're thinking of taking your significant other out for a movie and dinner this weekend in the Cedar Valley, you'll probably have to change your plans.

On Sunday evening, Marcus theaters loyalty members in Cedar Falls and Waterloo received a concerning email from the business.

One of the theaters in the Cedar Valley would be closing down before Memorial Day Weekend.

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The email confirmed that College Square Cinema in Cedar Falls will only be open for a few more days.

"We wanted you to know in advance and hope you'll plan one more visit with us. Thank you for your support over the years - we have enjoyed being part of this community," the message read.

College Square Cinema's final day of operation will be Thursday, May 23rd.

The Marcus Crossroads Cinema in Waterloo is not affected by this closure.

Only three movies will be showing on that day; 'Sight,' 'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,' and 'The Garfield Movie.'

Here are all of the showtimes for College Square Cinema's final day in business:

Sight: 6:00 PM

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga: 5:00 PM & 8:30 PM

The Garfield Movie: 4:40 PM & 7:20 PM

Why Is the Theater Closing?

There is no official word on why this theater is shutting down. However, the past few years have not been the kindest to the movie industry.

According to reports, the global box office revenue in 2020 dropped to $12.4 billion from $42.5 billion in 2019.

2023 did see a bump in the numbers over recent years. Films like 'Barbie' and 'Oppenheimer' brought people back into theaters last summer.

In 2023, North American theaters in 2023 sold approximately 825.2 million tickets.

This is a slight bump from 2022, when approximately 812.79 million tickets were sold.

However, theaters have yet to reach the pre-pandemic figures of 2019, a year in which 1.23 billion tickets were sold.

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