Early in the 20 the Century Bayonne was considered a film- making capital, one of the birth places of modern cinema prior to the move west to Hollywood. And though for the last five years, movie directors like Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard have returned to Bayonne to shoot movies here, residents of Bayonne had to go out of town to actually see these films when they were finally released.
Indeed, during the filming of War of the Worlds here last November, several residents bemoaned the lack of a theater.
But this will change on May 19, when the Frank Family theater chain open the doors to a new 12-screen theater at the South Cove Mall just off Route 440 on Lafante Way featuring Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.
“We will be opening with the new Star Wars movie,” said Deborah Franks, who with her brother Bruce and father, Alvin, operating the South Jersey Company. “We also expect to have War of the Worlds when that comes out in June.”
The Frank family has a strong historic connection of the film industry. Samuel Frank began his movie career with Jack Warner – one of the founders of Warner Brothers studios. In 1921, he started Frank Theaters which at one point ran movie houses up and down coast of New Jersey. Frank Theaters owns and operates 100 plus screens in New Jersey, with expansions in North Carolina, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and now Florida.
“We’ve been doing this for three generations,” Debra Franks said, recalling how family members started at an early age, and how she used to work in the ticket booth, behind the popcorn counter and to help clean the theater when she was young. Over the years, she has almost met some of the stars of the films when they came to her family’s theaters doing promotions.
“I’ve met people like Clint Eastwood, Sally Fields and Jane Fonda,” she recalled.
The state of the art theater will feature high back rocker stadium seating, wall to t wall screens, digital surround sound, multiple concession stations, game room, guest services and a party room.
The new theater will be the only theater in Bayonne and the first in the city since the closing of the DeWitt Theater on Broadway in the early 1980s.
The agreement to open the theater was struck earlier this year and the rapid opening came because the theater had already been constructed, and the Frank Family took over the project that had been halted. Another Last August, city officials pressed property owners at the current location by designating a section of the South Cove Mall a redevelopment area, with the implied threat of takeover through eminent domain.
Franks Family theaters has a good reputation around the state, said city officials, hoping that this would finally provide residents with a theater they can attend without having to leave Bayonne.
Deborah Franks said tickets will be available 24 hours a day at automatic ticket stations and the theater will operate daily with bargain matinees. Discounts will be available for senior citizens and for military. The 12 screens will allow also for a wide selection of films.
Franks said the company has developed a philosophy over the years to “remain creative and innovate,” which has contributed to the Frank Theaters becoming the leading independent theater chain in the state. To maintain this status, she said, “We must strive to achieve excellence in presentation, cleanliness, maintain four star customer services and provide an enjoyable movie-going experience for each and every customer. Treating our customers is the right thing to do.”