Second-run movie theater opens downtown

Dive In Theatre, located in the former The Skinny Improv space in the Holland Building basement at 205 Park Central East, is holding a grand opening this Friday and Saturday. The theater shows second-run movies and party-film favorites. This weekend’s features will be “Casino Royale” at 7:30 p.m. and “Ghostbusters” at 10 p.m.

Owners Chad Harris, who is “on sabbatical” from performing with Skinny Improv, and wife Erica spent about six months modeling the Dive In after theaters they visited in Chicago and Wisconsin. Moviegoers sit on overstuffed couches and watch films on a 120-inch main screen, two 50-inch TVs on each side and a 42-inch TV at a concession stand and bar.

“It’s a totally interactive, enhanced experience,” Harris said, adding that viewers are encouraged to recite dialogue and discuss the films out loud. “We’re telling people to come to it as an experience-first, movie-second type of atmosphere, and you’ll have a good time.”

Harris said he is confident the theater will be unique enough to set it apart from the first-run movie theater slated to anchor downtown’s College Station development and the nearby Moxie Cinema, which shows independent and art films.

“I had a conversation with (Moxie owners) Dan and Nicole (Chilton), and we’ve agreed that they will be showing independent and art films, and we’ll be showing more mainstream and mass-appeal types of titles,” Harris said. “And we agreed we’re not going to schedule over each other. I think we’ll just be another draw to bring more people downtown.”

Films at the Dive In could include party and cult flicks such as “Animal House” and “The Big Lebowski,” and others will be picked based on audience requests and ticket sales, Harris said.

The theater seats about 110. Admission is $5, and a concession stand offers snacks, beverages and alcohol. For more information, call (417) 866-4348 or e-mail info@diveintheatre.com.