Recently, there has been some chatter on r/boulder about movie theaters and movie culture:

• Indie movie theatre in Boulder
• Opening an indie theater

Across those threads, folks are reminiscing, lamenting, and asking: why doesn't Boulder have an art house cinema?!

This is a topic I've put some thought to. That, along with the fact that today is the three year anniversary of Barbenheimer, inspired me to write about this in this week's FAB newsletter. This is a special edition of the newsletter - so if you are not really into it, do not fret, the normal format will be back next week!

So with all of that in mind, allow me, an avid but very very amateur movie nerd, to share my two cents:

In one of those threads, u/VR_Robotica pointed out that we used to have way more screens around town:

• Basemar Cinema I & II closed in the early 90s.
• Mann's Arapahoe Village 4 closed in 2004.
• United Artists Village 4 closed in January 2007.
• Mann's Crossroads Commons 6 ran until it became Landmark Crossroads Cinema, then closed in August 2007.
• The Flatirons Theater on the Hill closed in 2009.

Today, we only have a handful of screens left, some of which are part-time: Cinemark Century, The Dairy, International Film Series. Don't get me wrong, I find myself very booked still, and am grateful for the fantastic movies showing in town, especially at IFS. Still, I often find myself needing to drive out of Boulder to the Alamos or the SIE to catch certain reissues and retrospectives.

I got curious to compare Boulder to other similarly-sized, college towns:

City	Population	Dedicated art house theatre?
Boulder, CO	106,000	No
Asheville, NC	95,000	Yes, Fine Arts Theatre
Ann Arbor, MI	122,000	Yes, The State Theatre, Michigan Theater
Berkeley, CA	122,000	Yes: Rialto Elmwood

This is not a comprehensive sample, but can maybe suggest that Boulder is an outlier? The art house theatre in my college town wasn't just formative for me during my college years, it was also a center for community learning and growth.

It's been 3 years since Barbenheimer, a huuuge moment that reminded moviegoers (and the business and advertisers) how much people love going to see movies in person. AMC had the biggest single week in its 103-year history that week, with 18.6 million tickets sold across the two films on opening weekend alone.

This past weekend, Nolan blew out that Oppenheimer record with the Odyssey with a massive $124.5M domestic opening weekend, blasting past his 2023 Oppenheimer record of $82.5M. But we here in Colorado weren't quite ready for the format he shot it in. Only 25 theaters in the US can show it in IMAX 70mm the way Nolan intended, and Colorado has 2 of them. Our closest one, in Denver, broke down over opening weekend and is still under repair. The other is all the way out in Colorado Springs.

Google search trends for "Boulder showtimes" suggest that though we haven't recovered to pre-Covid levels, and we're not nearing our Barbenheimer peak, interest in getting into the theater is higher than it was in 2025, and creeping up.

Not to mention that Sundance is putting money into art and movie venues across town. CU's preparing for Sundance by investing in repairs in Muenzinger Auditorium, Macky auditorium, and Roe Green Theatre (coming soon). And construction is underway on a $17 million renovation project to winterize the Chautauqua Auditorium to extend its programming by 200 days!

So, that's all to say that my extremely not professional opinion is that it's time for Boulder to open an indie/art house theatre. I think there's plenty of demand for good movies here, I believe Sundance will be good for our city, and I'm hopeful that all of this latent demand will blossom into more spaces where we can gather in front of a screen in person and watch all sorts of artsy, goofy, thoughtful movies together.

In the meantime, the fact that you're already subscribed to this newsletter means that you, too, are probably a movie nerd in/around Boulder. I'm so glad you're here! I have seen some of you share this site and newsletter on Reddit. I'm extremely grateful and just giddy that FAB! keeps ending up in the right hands. Thanks for being here.

See ya next week for our regularly scheduled programming,
Jenn