Kailua theater goes luxurious
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM
Kailua Cinemas opened its doors quietly in mid-December following several months of renovations. It is still independently run under the ownership of the two original partners, Mike Daniels and Tyler Walters.
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM
Kailua Cinemas general manager Adam Hijirida demonstrates the reclining ability of the new seating installed in the Windward Oahu theater.
Gone are the rows of faded, sagging fold-up seats and sticky carpet. Gone is the marquee with old-fashioned letters.
Gone is Water Gardens, a second-run movie theater at the Enchanted Lake Shopping Center which has been revamped into a luxury venue with reclining leather chairs and the latest film releases.
Kailua Cinemas opened its doors quietly in mid-December following several months of renovations. It is still independently run under the ownership of the two original partners, Mike Daniels and Tyler Walters.
“We knew that all the other theaters would be changing to these seats, too,” said General Manager Adam Hijirida. “If we had kept the old ones, we would be outdated.”
Hijirida said the changes were made to remain competitive with the two main theater chains in Hawaii — Consolidated and Regal — and to meet community demand. So far, the response has been tremendous, he said.
Kailua Cinemas’ first screening of the new “Star Wars: Rogue One” was sold out on opening night, with patrons learning of the new theater solely through social media and word of mouth. A formal celebration is planned for sometime this month.
Don't miss out on what's happening!
Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It's FREE!
Besides the reclining seats, which are extra wide and outfitted with cup holders, the theater put in new carpeting, renovated the front concession area with a sleek countertop and remodeled its bathrooms. “Kailua Cinemas” in large, red letters is now very visible on the marquee outside.
The number of seats dropped from 244 to 94, with reserved seating only. A simple menu features popcorn, water and soda. While Water Gardens screened only films with G, PG and PG-13 ratings, Kailua Cinemas shows a full range of movies.
29 responses to “Kailua theater goes luxurious”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Welcome to the new age Kailua Cinemas! You now finally have caught up with the rest of Kailua. Now if only Enchanted Lake Shopping Center could be redeveloped……and updated!
I love Kailua, before Mitch.
Have you seen that bumper sticker on many cars in Kailua? Do you know the reference?
Mitch? As for the theater it sounds nice but many of us lack the time to watch movies. We work multiple jobs, etc.
Why? Whole Foods and target is already in Kailua. What else you want more tourist stuff? Mainlander?
Best wishes for success!
My daughter and her family went there and they loved it. With 4 kids, it cost a little bit more but was worth it.
I predict it will not be long before the beautiful leather seats are sliced by theater goers for the “fun of it” just as some are going around Oahu smashing toilets and urinals in public rest rooms.
Wow, what a negative attitude!
Wow, blind as a bat. Open your eyes to see how vandals have destroyed public toilets, playground equipment, spray-painted graffiti on everything in sight and more all for the fun of it. Nothing negative about my comment; it’s reality.
I’m going to guess that you voted for Mr. Trump. A good solution mightbe to send back seat slashers to wherever they came from. After a complimentary stay in a waterboarding recliner. #MAGA!
MillionMonkeys, an appropriate name for someone who clearly is suffering from Three Monkey Syndrome – hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.
I wouldn’t be surprised as more people are committing vandalism and criminal property damage just to get their jollies ……
We have two of these in Kapolei now and we are so spoiled. I can’t go to a regular theater any more. LOL The funny thing is it’s not any more expensive.
I was about to ask how much, since they don’t mention it in the article. How can they compete if they have 1/3 the seats but charge the same? Do they hike up the snack prices even more(!)?
Doesn’t need to cost more. Theaters are already outrageous. I wouldn’t see a film with my kids, for even 1/2 the cost. No wonder Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Google, and Youtube are so successful.
For those of you longing for the “good old days” take a good look. That’s sure not the old outdoor theater in Waianae
I hope they can get people to not talk while the movie is playing.
My grandson said his dad was snoring!
Rather watch at home. Such an outdated concept. Won’t last another 5 years.
Those seats don’t look that comfortable.
Might be a good idea to bring some bleach wipes for the chairs before you sit down.
…if only airline travel was like this.
We’ve been there twice and will keep on going. They also added nachos and you can put your own cheese on it!! Plus you can put your own butter on your popcorn, so unhealthy but so so good. Plus Tuesdays is $6.00 Tuesdays. We’ve bought our tickets online but you can go there and get your seats, all seats are reserved. They are so comfortable. Love it that we don’t have to go all the way to town, plus there are so many places to go to eat right after or before.
One of the few good Kailua places for locals to eat next door.
I was expecting to read about how the seats are like first-class as you would find in an airline, with champagne service (adults only) as they do in several movie theaters in Japan, with butlers available to fetch your food orders. That would be considered luxurious.
It’s difficult for a movie theater to survive these days. Many of them are long gone. This sounds like a last-ditch effort to survive and we should all hope it works for them. Unfortunately, now that our family has Netflix, it’s a lot easier for us to just watch a good movie at home. Too bad they don’t have some sort of a weekly drawing for four or six free tickets but this might be considered gambling which we can’t do here. Anyone have any other suggestions to help the cause? Showing “adult” movies is also a good idea.
Ticket prices are so high and as if that’s not enough it costs a fortune to buy snacks at the theater. With less seating I can only imagine how they would make up for that fact. Someone here has mentioned that it doesn’t cost more than any other theater. Well, if that’s the case, they really should offer more concession snacks or even meals to compensate for that.
Amazing amount of negativity about two guys who are trying innovation to bring back a local business. Good article. Hope to go there soon!
Its worth it!