New Yuba City theater slated to open Dec. 19

A new 12-screen movie theater under construction in Yuba City is expected to open Dec. 19, according to a Cinemark official.

"I don't think there's any showstoppers at this point," said builder and developer John Ochipinti.

The long-awaited 2,113-seat Movies 12 will open with stadium seating and self-serve concessions, said James Meredith, vice-president of marketing and communications for Cinemark, the theater's operator.

Dec. 19 is also the opening date for a number of holiday movies, said Meredith.

"It'll be open for all of the big holiday films," said Meredith. "They come out during the month of December, but Dec. 19 is when a bunch of them are hitting." Plans are to keep the existing Movies 8 operating until the Movies 12 opens, said Meredith.

Movies 8 will be demolished and paved over after the new cinema opens.

Meredith did not have information on ticket prices for the new theater but said they should be "in line" with the current prices.

Construction on the 38,888-square-foot Movies 12 began in April but Cinemark, of Plano, Texas, has been working on plans for a new movie theater in Yuba City since 2002.

The company's biggest challenge came from a city moratorium on new movie theaters outside of a downtown area. The City Council lifted the ban earlier this year after plans were announced to build a new theater on the same Whyler Road site as the old one, avoiding the moratorium.

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter John Dickey at 749-4711 or jdickey@appealdemocrat.com.