Same Movies, Popcorn, Just New Owners

Starting today, things are going to start looking a little different around most Spokane movie theaters.

As part of a corporate merger involving Regal Cinemas of Knoxville, Tenn., and two buyout firms - Kohberg Kravis Roberts and Hicks Muse Tate & Furst - ACT III has been “melded” into Regal’s operations.

The resulting movie-exhibition circuit will be the world’s largest, says Phil Zacheretti, Regal’s senior vice president of marketing and advertising.

“We will have almost 3,300 screens at about 387 sites in 30 states,” Zacheretti says.

What will this mean to the average Spokane movie-goer? Not much at first.

“The average customer will see very, very little change,” Zacheretti says. “There’s not a whole lot of change to be made.”

As time passes, moviegoers might see new uniforms on theater staff. Company names on popcorn tubs and drink cups will carry Regal’s trademark as soon as the current inventory runs out. Background music and movie trailers ultimately will carry Regal’s logo.

“But in terms of anything that really affects customer service, the quality of the presentation, that type of thing, they really won’t see any difference,’ Zacheretti says.

Regal is continuing with ACT III’s previously announced plans to build a 12-screen megaplex in NorthTown Mall, Zacheretti says. And the company will continue “to offer the widest variety of films to our patrons in each location as possible.”

But the company doesn’t plan to raise ticket prices - at least for now.

Zacheretti says that Regal’s policy is to study an area’s financial situation once or twice a year, weighing such factors as minimum wage and tax rates vs. revenue, etc. The next study, he says, might occur in the spring.

“But, no, we’re not going to come in and just because we’re Regal begin to charge more,” Zacheretti says. “That’s not how we operate.”

Area moviegoers last experienced a ticket price hike in May, 1997, when ACT III raised general admission prices from $6 to $6.25 in Spokane ($6.50 at the Spokane Valley 12) and $5.50 to $6 in Coeur d’Alene.

According to various reports, KKR purchased ACT III in October for $660 million from a consortium headed by television producer Norman Lear (“All In the Family”). ACT III operated 124 theaters with 733 screens in Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Idaho, Missouri, Nevada and Texas.

In the Spokane-Post Falls-Coeur d’Alene area, ACT III controlled 55 of the area’s 69 movie screens. The company had operated in Spokane since purchasing the East Sprague, the North Division and the Fox Tri-Cinemas from Luxury Theatres in May of 1989.

KKR had hoped to work a deal with Hicks Muse that would have combined Regal with ACT III and United Artists, which would have given the circuit a total of 5,347 screens in 727 theaters. But, explained Zacheretti, the UA part of the merger fell through.

As of now, the second-largest movie exhibition circuit is the Columbus, Ga.-based Carmike Cinemas, which owns 2,720 screens in 540 theaters. (Another company, AMC, is building a 20-screen movie complex in the renovated River Park Square in downtown Spokane.)

Regal was founded in Titusville, Fla., in 1989 by company chairman and CEO Michael Campbell. The circuit, says Zacheretti, is now “dominant” in the East and Southeast, especially in such cities as Cleveland, Philadelphia and Atlanta.

And, Zacheretti adds, “We own the state of Florida, basically.”

According to the company’s Web site, Regal boasts an average of nine screens per theater, an industry high. Regal’s new theaters range from 125 to 550 seats.

The concession stands in some of those theaters offer a “lobby cafe alternative” that feature a “healthier, more sophisticated menu.”

But, again, that’s something that likely won’t hit Spokane anytime soon.

“Right now, it’s business as usual,” Zacheretti says. “ACT III was a good company. If anything, it’s going to be better.”