14 screens of the same old thing?

Regal Cinemas is pulling Coeur d’Alene into the 21st century.

True, with the Coeur d’Alene Resort, trendy shops, upscale restaurants and that golf course with the floating green, Coeur d’Alene entered the new millennium a while ago – long before many similarly sized cities.

Not, however, in terms of moviegoing.

Until a week from today, when the 14-screen Riverstone Stadium will open its doors for the first regular schedule of films, Coeur d’Alene residents have had to see movies in either of the Regal Cinemas houses that have served the city until now – the five-screen Coeur d’Alene and the Coeur d’Alene Showboat – the privately owned Coeur d’Alene Discount Cinemas or nearby Post Falls Theater.

And in the case of the Coeur d’Alene and the Showboat, the experience has been far from what it is at Regal’s two Spokane-area locations – the 12-screen NorthTown Mall or the similarly sized Spokane Valley Mall cinemas – or AMC’s 20-screen complex at River Park Square, where moviegoing is pretty much as good as it gets.

But that will change once Regal opens Riverstone Stadium.

“We have the latest in all digital sound, which some of the older theaters do not have,” Robbie Arrington, Regal’s national marketing manager, said in a recent phone interview. “And, of course, the stadium seating, which is just all the rage.”

Speaking from his office in Knoxville, Tenn., site of Regal’s corporate home office, Arrington emphasized what many of us already know: Stadium seating, in which each row is set several inches higher than the next, offers the best moviewatching angles outside of your living room.

“Once you sit in a stadium- seating auditorium, it’s hard to go back,” Arrington said. “It does provide an ultimate, unobstructed view of the film. And that’s why you’re there, not to fight with the person in front of you over their hat or hair.”

But don’t take Arrington’s word for it. See for yourself. Beginning Monday, everyone will have a chance to preview the theaters by participating in the four days of pre-opening preview showings. On Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, beginning at 11 a.m., admission will be $1. Another $1 will get you popcorn, and a third will buy a soft drink.

Monday is sponsored by The Spokesman-Review, with proceeds going to the Tubb’s Hill Foundation, a nonprofit group set up to preserve the “aesthetic qualities of Tubb’s Hill.” Regal requested several locally filmed movies such as “Smoke Signals” to show for the occasion, but nothing had been confirmed by press time.

On Tuesday, the Coeur d’Alene Press is sponsoring a “Christmas for All” theme (proceeds going to Christmas for All). And on Thursday, KHQ Television will sponsor a day of children’s films to benefit the Children’s Village.

On Wednesday night at 6:30, a special $50-a-ticket special event – at which Coeur d’Alene Mayor Sandi Bloem is expected to appear – will be held to benefit North Idaho College athletics. In addition to catered hors d’oeuvres and wine, those attending can expect to see, Arrington said, “a premiere film that hasn’t been shown yet.”

Nor even announced. His best guesses: “Bewitched,” maybe, or the Martin Lawrence film “Rebound.”

If you’re interested in attending the Wednesday night event, call (208) 769-3348.

But what will we see?

Regal is the largest movie exhibitor in the country. According to its Web site, Regal – which comprises United Artists, Edwards, Hoyts and Regal CineMedia – owns some 553 theaters in 40 states, which amounts to 6,264 screens.

A week from today, when Regal opens Coeur d’Alene’s Riverstone Stadium 14, it will open multiplexes in Knoxville, Tenn., Portland, Ore., and Tampa, Fla., as well.

Question is, will the movies that play in the new Coeur d’Alene movie house be any different from what we already get? That is, more prints of “Star Wars,” “Monster-in-Law” and “Madagascar”?

Seems unlikely. It’s tiring to keep making the argument, but it would be nice to see something other than the latest Hollywood offerings every hour. Other films are out there.

In Seattle, independent theaters’ showings include “Ladies in Lavender” (starring Judi Dench and Maggie Smith) and “Saving Face” (starring Joan Chen). But even some chain theaters – the Loews Cineplex-owned Uptown Cinemas, for example – are showing alternative films such as “Mad Hot Ballroom,” the documentary about New York City fifth-graders learning how to ballroom dance.

It would be nice if, as AMC does on occasion (“Howl’s Moving Castle” being the most recent example), Regal would try to show more challenging movies.

Because even in a spiffy new theater, same old is still same old.