Dallas/Fort Worth is getting a third Alamo Drafthouse movie theater to fulfill the needs of the Metroplex's more hardcore and addicted cinephiles.
The theater chain announced earlier today that it plans to open a third location in Las Colinas in the new Music Factory shopping and entertainment complex located at State Highway 114 and Fuller Drive, according to a released statement.
James Wallace, the DFW programmer for the movie theater chain, says the theater will officially break ground for the new movie theater this Saturday during their "Rolling Roadshow" screening of the Steven Spielberg classic Raiders of the Lost Ark, which answers the question "Why the hell are they doing an outdoor screening of Raiders of the Lost Ark in an open field in Las Colinas?"
"We knew the announcement would hit this week and we obviously needed to announce [the Raiders] event earlier to start promoting it," Wallace says. "We had to announce it and it kind of worked in our advantage to grease the rumor wheel."
The outdoor screening event did spark some speculation that the Drafthouse had planned to announce its third location for a movie theater. Last month, the movie theater chain announced they are bringing a theater to downtown Dallas at the corner of South Lamar and Cadiz Streets.
Just like the downtown location, they'll be surrounded by local restaurants and shops that Wallace says will help shape both theaters' ambiance and style.
"Not only do you have to consider how the area and demographic of that area will shape what the theater is because we're very much a community based theater but you also have to consider the other businesses that will be around us," he says. "[Las Colinas] is an exciting development because they have an 8,000-seat amphitheater, high end restaurants, a bowling concept and shops and all kinds of stuff like that."
Wallace says the Drafthouse should have no problem fitting into a centralized entertainment complex like the Music Factory.
"It's the ideal spot where you can show up on a Saturday night and literally have everything you could want," he says
It's also located close to the Irving Convention Center, home to the annual Fan Expo, and Wallace said they have plans to hold some special screenings in conjunction with the annual gathering of costumed fanboys and girls just like the ones they are planning for the new Dallas location with the Dallas Convention Center's Comic-Con.
"Now we have not just one but two locations that are literally a stone's throw away from both comic convention venues," Wallace says. "That's super exciting as well. We'll definitely have plans for some fun stuff with that partnership.
"From my standpoint as a programmer and generally speaking as a nerd, it's really great," Wallace says.