Brighton Town Square 20

Info Updates:

5/5/2004 - B.J. McDevitt

This cinemaplex has completed its expansion, and is now the Brighton Town Square 20.

12/18/2003 - Detroit News

MJR Theatres boosts screens in Metro Detroit Chesterfield Township, Brighton theaters expand to meet need By Neal Haldane / Special to The Detroit News OAK PARK -- MJR Theatres plans to invest $5 million to increase the number of movie screens at its Brighton and Chesterfield Township locations. The Brighton project is already under way and should be completed in January, said Michael Mihalich, president of Oak Park-based MJR Theatres. "I wanted to get it done earlier, in time for the holiday season," Mihalich said. "With the product out there, we could use the extra seats." The Brighton theater, which opened with 16 screens in June 2001, will feature 20 screens once the expansion is complete. Two of the new theaters will seat more than 400 people each while the other two will feature more than 100 seats apiece. "We made a large commitment to expand," Mihalich said about the $2.5-million project that started a month ago. "We continue to experience, on Saturday nights and other peak times, sellouts. Weve turned a lot of people away and now we will be able to accommodate them." With the extra screens, Mihalich expects admissions in Brighton to increase from 860,000 a year to more than 1 million. His Southgate theater draws the most customers in the six-theater chain with 1.2 million admissions a year. In Chesterfield Township, Mihalich would like to add four screens to the dozen now in use and is in the process of gaining the necessary approvals. "If I get approval in January, we could start in spring and finish by mid-summer," he said. In addition to adding four screens, the lobby will be expanded and improved. MJR opened the Chesterfield Township complex in 1995 and converted the theater from traditional to stadium seating a year later. "I like big lobbies with high ceilings," he said about the project, which could cost $2.5 million to complete. "Thats a big growth market." These expansions could work, given the movie market in the Detroit area, said Dan Marks, an executive vice president with Nielsen EDI, a box office analysis firm in Hollywood. "The Brighton area, Mike has pretty much to himself," Marks said. "I think its an indication of the strong box office in the area and the need to service the market there." Adding amenities and screens helps keep theaters fresh and makes them more appealing to patrons, Marks said. "Mike is a bright exhibitor and would not be a practitioner of overbuilding," he said. "Detroit is one of the major box-office grossing areas in the country and has always been a good movie town." The industry also could be undergoing a shake-up that could affect theater-goers in this area. AMC Theatres announced last month it is involved with Loews Cineplex Entertainment Corp. about a possible business combination. AMC operates two theaters in Livonia and one in Sterling Heights. Loews operates Star Theatres in nine Michigan communities.

HomeMovie TheatersBrighton Town Square 20

Brighton Town Square 20