Goldwyn envisions movie theater chain expansion.

Specialized/foreign film chain plans 30% more screens

L.A.-based Samuel Goldwyn Theatre Group plans to expand the number of screens it operates by about 30 percent by March 1995, primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Prior to the expansion, which is about halfway completed, Goldwyn operated 100 screens in 42 theaters around the country. The expansion will add 30 screens in nine more theaters, with the company ultimately planning to have 250 screens in an undetermined number of theaters in operation by the year 2000.

President Steve Gilula said the move reflects the company's belief that audiences are increasingly flocking to specialized, foreign and art films.

"There are many different special interests out there for movie-going audiences besides just the mass market," Gilula said, "and we feel that we've helped to develop that."

The subsidiary of Samuel Goldwyn Co., which produces and distributes motion pictures and television shows, has already begun building a five-screen complex in the Embarcadero Center in downtown San Francisco.

Goldwyn has also acquired four theaters in Berkeley and two in the Bay Area town of Piedmont.

The company is also constructing a five-screen theater in Minneapolis and recently bought two theaters with a combined five screens in Houston.

10 more screens

Goldwyn specializes in smaller theaters offering specialty -- and often foreign or independently produced -- films not marketed to mass audiences.

In all but the Seattle area, the theaters operate under the Landmark Theaters name. In Seattle they are called Seven Gables Theaters.

Total cost of the expansion -- to be shared by Goldwyn, its landlords and various developers -- is in the $15 million to $20 million range, Gilula said.

"Our acquisition and development strategy is focused on showcase theaters in sophisticated urban environments," Gilula said. He noted such recent hits as "The Piano," "The Crying Game" and "Like Water for Chocolate" have shown the strength of the specialized film niche.

Specialized market grows

"The distinction between a true specialized film and a mass-market film has blurred," Gilula said. "The public is more open-minded, and the exhibitors are more open-minded too."

John Krier, president of the box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations, agreed, noting that the specialized market is increasing. Krier cited the success of "Four Weddings and a Funeral," which grossed more than $50 million this year playing largely in specialty houses, as an example of the market's strength.

"They're making more independent pictures and there's a demand for these kinds of films," Krier said.

The theater expansion also makes sense for Goldwyn Co. as a whole, said Goldwyn President and CEO Meyer Gottlieb, as theater exhibition is a more reliable source of revenue than the hit-and-miss world of film production, which Goldwyn is also involved in.

"By expanding the number of screens under operation, we also increase the percentage of our company's revenue and cash flows from more stable sources," Gottlieb said.