SUCCASUNNA — The Cine?polis Succasunna movie theater, one of just a handful of cinemas Sussex County residents frequent, is shutting off their lights for good today, according to a theater spokesperson.
The cinema, located off Route 10 in the Roxbury Mall, will show its last movies this evening before shutting down, a move for which Cine?polis USA spokesperson Marcus Angelo Moreno declined to give a reason.
Instead, Moreno directed the New Jersey Herald to a statement on the Cine?polis website, which identified the Jan. 5 closing and thanked those who visited the theater over the years.
“We hope that you continue your support of cinema-going after we are gone,” the statement read.
In July 2019, Cine?polis USA, a chain of theaters headquartered in California, expanded their brand to the East Coast and purchased three theaters previously owned by Bow Tie Cinemas in Mansfield, Parsippany and Succasunna.
The Cine?polis website indicates the newly renovated Cine?polis Mansfield location will remain open and Moreno verified that no other locations will be closing in the area. The Mansfield location closed in late spring and reopened on Aug. 7 after undergoing renovations, which included the addition of 615 reclining leather seats and in-seat food delivery. A bar has been constructed and will open pending the approval of a liquor license.
The Cine?polis Parsippany location appears to be the next on the list for renovations; a statement on the Route 46 theater’s website indicates the cinema is open but undergoing renovations.
While Moreno declined to say if the Cine?polis Succasunna location had already undergone its own renovations, reviews on Google indicated that the theater had yet to see any upgrades, although many touted the theater’s cleanliness and affordability.
Those who purchased tickets in advance can return them for a refund by today.
No sales are pending on the building, which was constructed in 1930, according to assessment records.
The closure of the theater comes about 10 months before the Shops at Ledgewood Commons, a proposed 470,000-square-foot open-air mall is expected to open. The mall is located roughly a half mile north of the Roxbury Mall, where the Cine?polis Succasunna theater is located.
The Ledgewood Mall, once home to the closest Macy’s department store to Sussex County, is expected to include a Walmart Supercenter and retailers DSW, Ulta Beauty and Five Below. Jeffery Realty, who has been involved with the site since the new shopping center was announced in 2016, has also allotted sites for five proposed eateries: Five Guys Burgers and Fries, Starbucks, Chipotle Mexican Grill and Panda Express Chinese Kitchen.
A request for comment from the brokers with Jeffery Realty handling the leasing of the center’s sites regarding the theater’s closure and if the realty company is seeking the space was not immediately returned.
In July, when Cine?polis announced their acquisition of the three theaters, located in Morris and Warren counties, April Mendoza, then-vice president of Cine?polis USA, said the Succasunna location was a “good place” to introduce the company’s new theater concept, noting that it was chosen due to its “suburban atmosphere” located outside of a city area.
The Succasunna theater once operated as the Clearview Succasunna Cinema 10 for several years before it was purchased by Bow Tie in 2013.
The Cine?polis Succasunna location, which has 10 movie screens, will close with showings at 8:30 p.m. of “Spies in Disguise,” a computer-animated spy comedy film, and “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” a film based off the real-life friendship between Fred Rogers, aka Mr. Rogers, and skeptical journalist Tom Junod.
Cine?polis Succasunna is located at 21 Sunset Strip with a Roxbury mailing address. For more information about the movies playing this weekend, visit: https://cinepolisusa.com/locations/succasunna.
Other movie theaters in the region include: New Vision Sparta Theatre, located at 25 Centre St. in Sparta, offering three screens; Rockaway’s AMC 16 theater, located in the Rockaway Mall area, about a 20-minute drive from Newton; and the newly renovated Cine?polis Mansfield around a 40-minute drive from Newton. Other options include the Cine?polis Parsippany theater, Kinnelon Cinemas, Flagship Cinemas in Matamoras, Pa., and the Pocono Cinema, in East Stroudsburg, Pa.
Lori Comstock can also be reached on Twitter: @LoriComstockNJH, on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/LoriComstockNJH or by phone: 973-383-1194.