CINEMA PLUSH THE BRIDGE HOPES FANS OF FANTASY COME FOR LUXURY, STAY FOR MOVIE.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand Staff Writer

If movies are a world of imagination, shouldn't the theater be the first step into that fantasy?

That's the reasoning behind The Bridge, an ambitious luxury megaplex opening next week from developers including Shari E. Redstone, daughter of Viacom Inc. Chairman Sumner Redstone and president of the media giant's controlling company, National Amusements Inc.

The Bridge is a far cry from the drive-ins the Redstone family business operated early on.

It offers concierge service, a restaurant lounge with full bar, live preshow entertainment, advance ticketing and ``directors' halls'' with wide leather seats that can be reserved in blocks.

``We wanted to create a venue that would be a jump-off place for that journey,'' said Paul Heth, president of CineBridge Ventures Inc., which is developing the project with National Amusements.

The ``cinema de lux'' opening June 29 at the Promenade at Howard Hughes Center near Culver City is the latest effort by exhibitors to make movie-going more involved and convenient than the long lines, popcorn- and-Coke and sticky floors people have come to expect.

The changes were never needed more.

Most of the major exhibition chains are bankrupt after building scores of modern megaplexes without first closing older, smaller theaters. The resulting glut left them with a mountain of debt and some 39,000 screens, 10,000 too many by some estimates. Exhibitors shed 1,500 screens last year and an additional 800 in the first quarter of 2001.

The industry clearly bet that people wanted stadium seating, better sound and bigger screens, all hallmarks of the megaplexes that can have 20 or more screens.

Now, with increasing competition from DVDs, video games, the Internet and other entertainment options, they are looking to incentives and luxuries to drive repeat business.

``It's a definite gamble because you never know if people are going to be enticed to spend the extra money or whether a family of four feels it's already expensive enough,'' said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co. in Los Angeles.

For those willing to pay, Loews Cineplex Entertainment Corp. might add valet parking at its flagship megaplex in Pittsburgh, where patrons already have a mezzanine-level bar and reserve seating.

A similar theater is being opened in Boston, just as Loews considers closing 500 older screens. It has shuttered 500 so far.

``We've focused on the amenities that add a little more to the customers' entertainment dollar,'' said Loews spokeswoman Mindy Tucker.

Exhibitors are experimenting with other means of boosting attendance.

AMC Entertainment Inc. is testing a monthly pass that lets moviegoers see up to a film a day for a flat fee of $17.50.

Seven major exhibitors banded together to create Fandango, an advance ticketing service that just became available in Los Angeles. It adds $1 to the price of a ticket ordered online or by phone up to 72 hours in advance. The tickets are then available at a will call desk.

Eventually customers can print the ticket at home, said Fandango President and Chief Executive Art Levitt. At some theaters, users even get admitted ahead of those in line. Reserve seating and parking may be next.

``We are in a constant mode of upgrade,'' Levitt said. ``The consumer is becoming more and more demanding because the pressure on their time is greater. Some of these services will be critical to people's decisions and habits.''

Amid the exhibition industry's pullback, New York-based Madstone Films plans to launch a new theater chain later this year, converting roughly 20 discarded multiplexes into art houses with one screen served by a high-powered digital projector.

The projector can show concerts, sports and distance learning, and can include the ability to link audiences by live audio and video.

Madstone Screens hope to become a niche brand sought out for its unique offerings, not just another place to play the latest Hollywood features, said Chief Executive Tom Gruenberg.

``We want them to think we're there for them, that they have a place to go, a human experience that they'll trust,'' Gruenberg said.

Exhibition chains have been slow to switch to digital projectors because they are expensive, costing $100,000 or more, and are believed to principally benefit the studios, which would save by not having to distribute movies on film prints.

As the industry continues to turn itself around, the megaplexes will be its greatest assets because people will come to expect that level of quality, said Jon Weis, spokesman for Kansas City, Mo.-based Entertainment Properties Trust, which owns 28 megaplex properties including the AMC Promenade 16 in Woodland Hills. Also, the megaplexes are the easiest to make even more plush.

``The theater operators are taking a hard look and trying to get the consumer in the door with all these extras,'' Weis said. ``The use of theaters has changed. I would call this location-based entertainment.''

To that end, Heth even envisions The Bridge becoming a brand appealing to discerning moviegoers, not unlike the exhibition equivalent of coffee house chain Starbucks.

``I think everyone is looking for ways to keep customers in their venues longer so they'll spend more.''

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4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) When it opens next week, The Bridge will offer moviegoers concierge service, a restaurant lounge with full bar, live preshow entertainment, advance ticketing and ``directors' halls.''

David Sprague/Staff Photographer

(2 -- color) The seating

(3 -- color) The ticket booths

(4 -- color) The lobby