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Oxford, ME: Flagship Cinemas Closed

Posted on Tuesday, September 2, 2014 and updated on Thursday, October 23, 2014 11:33 AM

The Flagship Cinemas - Oxford in Oxford, Maine closed Monday, September 1, 2014 according to a recent article in the Sun Journal:

Flagship Cinema founder John Crowley confirmed that Monday will be the final day to catch a new release at the site, an anchor to the strip mall at 1570 Main St. in the Oxford Plaza for the past 17 years.

In a phone interview Thursday afternoon, Crowley said the closure was because of expected changes from the movie industry rapidly converting exclusively to digital projection.

He pegged the cost to upgrade his reel projectors at $750,000, capital unavailable for investment. Compounding that scenario are flagging ticket sales, which means the location has lost $50,000 annually for the past few years.

Click the Read link to view the full article.

Moviegoers in the area will need to travel some distance to see movies on the big screen. The Flagship Cinemas - Auburn and the Flagship Cinemas - Lewiston are both about 15 miles away, but given that the article mentions that it hasn't made the conversion to Digital Cinema Projection yet, one wonders how long the Lewiston location will remain open. You can view a full list of nearby theaters and choose the best option for you.

It appears that this is the latest theater to fall victim to the costs associated with the industry-wide conversion to Digital Cinema Projection systems. The new systems do bring benefits, but operations that struggle to keep the lights on are going to have a difficult time justifying the investment. One can look at this as a loss for the community, but another perspective is that it is also an example of survival of the fittest. Which best describes this situation is unknown, so feel free to leave a comment below and let us know what you think!



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