B&B Theatres Introduce Some New Goodies For Movie Fans

By JOHN C. COTEY

Jailene Sevilla says she has been coming to Wesley Chapel’s only movie theater since she was a kid, but taking in the latest improvements at a February 15 Grand Reopening was a revelation.

“It’s so different,” she said.

But, the most important thing Jailene and her father Jorge said after touring the revamped theater, was, “We’ll be back.”

The movie theater business was one of the hardest hit when Covid-19 blew through. So, getting the Sevillas and everyone else back to the theater is the main goal of B&B Theatres Wesley Chapel.

Hence the changes which not only include better seats and screens and a variety of viewing options, but also the grand opening of CycleCinema, the first spin studio located inside an actual theater.

“It’s been a journey,” said Paul Farnsworth, the Director of Communications for B&B Theatres, which took over The Grove Theater in 2021 and are finishing the job started by developer Mark Gold, who transformed the former Cobb Theater into what some dubbed a “theater of the future.”

“We knew when we came in what we wanted our plans to be,” Farnsworth said. “Our first course of action was replacing the seats. So, we put in these wide, electric, heated recliners in every auditorium. And then, Phase Two was the amenities that have now been completed and unveiled.”

Those include:

• ScreenX, which, according to Farnsworth, is the world’s first multi-projection platform, allowing viewers to experience select films in an expansive, 270-degree presentation, as the two sidewalls of the theater are utilized to give a more immersive experience.

• Premium Large Format (PLF) Grand Screen, which provides a true wallto-wall experience.

• The Lyric, a smaller (32-seat) theater designed for a more intimate and upscale theatrical experience. The Lyric will be used for showing independent and art films — such as the poignant comedy “80 for Brady” — and offers other high-end touches, including seat-mounted tray tables and elegant waterfall curtains

• Max Relax — Located in another smaller (only 50+ seats) theater, Max Relax offers commercial-grade, electric, heated, fully reclining leather chaise lounge chairs that are great for movie watching....and, if the movie isn’t great, a nice little nap.

• CycleCinema, which is being leased to owner Pascal Collard of the Sarah Vande Berg (SVB) Tennis & Wellness Center in Zephyrhills and his three partners (Nick Walton, Andy Sorrentino and SVB co-owner Andy Green), which brings a Pelotontype shared workout experience to the big screen, with classes for everyone from total beginner to expert.

• SideSplitters at The Grove, the comedy club which already has been operational for more than a year before the Grand Reopening event.

“It has a little bit of everything for everyone,” said 17-year Wesley Chapel resident Joel Ojeda. “Very different from what we have experienced anywhere else.”

Farnsworth thinks the ScreenX will be the biggest hit of all the new upgrades.

“It’s a multi-projection platform,” he said. “So instead of one singular image on the screen in front of you, there are five projectors that put the image on the two auditorium sidewalls as well. So, it creates a 270-degree immersive experience. And when I heard about that, I was like, Wow, that sounds really distracting. And I don’t want to have to turn my head watch a movie. Long story short, they did a demo, and it completely blew my socks off.”

There are 5-6 ScreenX set-ups across

B&B’s 54 U.S, theaters (and more than 500 screens), but Farnsworth says the one in Wesley Chapel is the best he has seen.

Once movie studios start to create content specifically for ScreenX, he thinks the concept will really explode.

For Wesley Chapel general manager Yasemin Akbas, it’s an exciting time. She has worked at the theater under all of its previous owners, leaving for other jobs but always returning to the theater.

She has seen the theater go from a go-to night on the town to a ghost town, and back up again. She thinks the recent upgrades will solidify the theater as one of Wesley Chapel’s top entertainment destinations.

“I’ve seen it go from awesomeness to probably the slowest times ever back to the busiest,” she said. “But after the last two years, seeing everyone come back, that’s probably the best part right now. And, instead of just waiting for people to come back, B&B is trying to pull people back in with the concepts that we have now. It’s great.”

For more information, visit bbtheatres.com or Facebook.com/ bbtheatres. For more info about Cycle Cinema, visit TheCycleCinema.com.