[EXCLUSIVE] Studio Movie Grill Shutters Local Theater

Dinner-and-a-movie theater chain Studio Movie Grill (SMG) has closed its location on Holcomb Bridge Road in Alpharetta.  The nine screen location, which first opened in 2010, quietly closed last week.  There was reportedly no notice given to the public in advance of the closure, but many suspected it would close in light of the planned opening of a new SMG about five miles away on North Point Parkway.  

Dallas, Texas-based Studio Movie Grill declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy this past October after suffering through months of low sales due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, the theater chain operated 33 locations nationwide.  SMG is one of several theater operators facing financial hardship as a result of the pandemic. AMC Theatres, Regal Cinemas, Georgia Theater Company and CMX CinéBistro, among others, have all suspended operations for weeks, and then months at a time, over the past year, with Regal still closed indefinitely.  

In metro Atlanta, several theater locations have already permanently closed due to the pandemic. 

ToNeTo Atlanta reported this past September that CMX CinéBistro at TOWN Brookhaven in Brookhaven would not reopen after initially closing earlier in the year to complete a fire-caused renovation.  Shortly after the new year, we also reported that Georgia Theater Company (GTC) had permanently closed its Park 12 Cobb Cinemas in East Cobb.  In addition to the single closures by CMX and GTC, New Vision Theatres closed all of their locations last summer including metro Atlanta outposts in Cumming and Lithonia.  

For its part, SMG filed plans to convert a former AMC Theatres on North Point Parkway in Alpharetta in 2019 intending to open in 2020.  There has been limited work completed at the site over the past year, but the closure on Holcomb Bridge suggests that the company may now be directing their attention to North Point, where sources say it still does intend to open.  

Studio Movie Grill continues to operate two other Atlanta area locations: a ten auditorium theater on Venture Drive in Duluth that opened in 2012, and an 11 auditorium theater on Roswell Road in Marietta that opened in 2017.  

Are your surprised to see Studio Movie Grill close their Alpharetta location?  When was the last time you saw a movie in a theater?  What is your favorite movie theater chain?

Please share your thoughts below.