A familiar voice will welcome moviegoers at the new Boulevard Theatres this week
The new Boulevard Theatres at Towne West Square officially opens Friday with a full lineup of shows, with a sneak preview Thursday featuring five showings of “Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness.”
“They thought that this would be a fun way to do an early preview,” said Charley Cooper, the mall’s general manager.
Her husband, Tyler, and Ryan Blasdel are opening Boulevard where Regal used to be on the west side of the mall.
The theater was supposed to open in March, but supply chain issues slowed the opening.
“Given everything going on in the world, we pretty much opened on time,” Tyler Cooper said. “It could have been a lot worse.”
Tickets are $9 for adults, $5 for children and $5 for everyone on Movie Mondays.
Matinees are $7, which is also the evening price for seniors and members of the military.
Concessions are self-serve. Tyler Cooper said customers can make their drinks the way they like them “and do the exact amount of butter you want on your popcorn.”
Charley Cooper said anyone visiting Towne West can stop in to get theater food.
“It’s another fantastic food option for people.”
She said Boulevard will be a big draw for Towne West.
“From a mall perspective, I could not be more excited. . . . It’s really different from what’s out there.”
In addition to less-expensive tickets, the theater will have shorter waits for movies to begin.
One criticism of Regal is that there are so many trailers and ads before movies start.
The Coopers went to a movie at a Regal theater recently, and Charley Cooper said “it was 25 minutes of trailers and ads and whatever else they threw in there,” and they were late to meet their babysitter after.
Tyler Cooper has made upgrades to the theater’s equipment, concessions and lobby and plans more in the future.
“We want to continue to improve the theater,” he said.
“We feel like there’s been some of the little details . . . missing from the Wichita movie scene for the last few years that make moviegoing great.”
One small touch is popcorn buckets. Cooper said bags would be cheaper, but he’s heard from people that they miss buckets.
Also, there will be an official Voice of the Cinema — the same voice actor who used to welcome guests to the Warren Theatres when Bill Warren owned them.
“He’s going to be reprising his role,” Tyler Cooper said.
“It was something Bill Warren pioneered. . . . It was always something that was nice and welcoming . . . to guests and really put you in that movie atmosphere.”
Cooper said the idea is “just really bring that fun back to the movies.”
“Our mission is to bring a little bit more of that magic back to the moviegoing experience in Wichita.”
This story was originally published May 5, 2022 at 11:19 AM.