Flagship Premium Cinemas made a return to its original location on Churchville Road in Bel Air Friday evening, reopening to the public with luxury heated recliners, updated sound systems and two newly upgraded large premium format auditoriums.
The location has been home to a movie theater for decades, with Flagship in the space from 2001 through 2014.
“It’s a far cry from what it was,” said Paul Wenger, president of Flagship Premium Cinemas.
In the early 2000s, running Flagship’s Churchville location was a family affair for Wenger. Although headquartered in Baltimore, Flagship had locations as far north as Maine, but he and his children worked regularly in the Churchville theater. Both his son and oldest daughter worked at the snack bar, and his son even rose through the ranks to become a supervisor.
“We spent many, many weekends up there, and it was just a fun time. It was just a great time,” Wenger said.
Many of Flagship’s staff back then were local high school students who remained at the theater through college and even afterward, many staying on for a decade or more. Some employees, such as former manager Lisa Nelson, stayed with the company even after it sold its location in Churchville. Nelson now works in the administrative department.
Before Flagship Premium Cinemas first claimed the space at 2408 Churchville Road in Bel Air in 2001, Wenger said the building had been occupied by the theater chains Loew’s and AMC Theatres. When Flagship first bought the property in 2001, it had been abandoned, Wenger said, the windows were boarded up and the inside was littered with graffiti. Flagship renovated it and operated there for 13 years before selling.
Toward the end of 2013 a company called Digiplex approached Flagship about acquiring its space in Churchville and another in Pennsylvania, and a deal was made. Over roughly a two-year span, Digiplex was bought out by now-defunct Carmike Cinemas, which was then bought out by AMC Theatres, which ran the Churchville movie theater location for about eight years, according to Wenger.
Since AMC Theatres transitioned out earlier this year, Wenger said he and his staff have worked diligently over the last four months to get renovations completed by the fall and reopen, again, under the Flagship name.
“It sort of reminds you of when you were a kid, and you remember something very fun when you were young, and you come back later and it just brings back those fond memories,” Wenger said. “And so when the opportunity came up to take that location over again, we did not hesitate. I mean, we immediately went to work.
“What was there before was more than appropriate for 12 years ago, but the industry has changed, and consumer habits have changed since the pandemic,” Wenger said. “The public demands better today than it did even 12 years ago, so we were quite thrilled when we were able to cut a deal.”
The space has seven auditoriums, as before, but now each is filled with heated recliners, curved screens that are 5 to 6 feet taller and wider, according to Wenger, along with state-of-the-art sound systems. In total, the theater has 400 single-seat recliners, with 100 each in its two largest theaters.
Patrons will also get to experience upgrades such as self-serve popcorn and fountain drinks with unlimited same-day refills, and a new “one price” model that offers a set ticket price for all films, all ages and all showtimes, according to a news release. These components are part of Flagship’s “Cinema Redefined” concept, which aims to make the movie-going experience more affordable.
“I started out as a movie theater usher when I was 16, so I remember when movie tickets were far less expensive than they are today,” Wenger said. “What we needed to do was make going to the movies affordable enough for a family, so that it didn’t come down to, ‘you know, am I going to make my car payment, or am I going to take my family of five to the movies?’”
The Churchville location will feature reduced pricing on Tuesdays, charging $7 per ticket, while all other days of the week will carry a price of $11 per ticket.
Have a news tip? Contact Brennan Stewart at bstewart@baltsun.com, 443-800-5902, or @BrennanStewart_ on X.
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