Movie-going rises despite closure of earthquake-damaged theaters.

With the earthquake damaging cinemas in the San Fernando Valley and in Santa Monica, movie-going patterns may shift at least in the short term, theater executives say. Since Westwood Village sustained minimal damage, it may pick up some of the business it has lost over the last five years.

Overall, movie attendance in Los Angeles County is strong despite 11 theaters and 55 screens being closed the weekend of Jan. 21-23. Ticket sales in the Los Angeles region increased, according to Beverly Hills-based Entertainment Data Inc., a box office tabulating service.

EDI's figures for the region that includes Los Angeles County were up 13.4 percent for the weekend compared to a year earlier. That figure includes all of Southern California, Las Vegas and Phoenix.

However, if just Los Angeles County is considered, box office business would have shown a gain, according to Phil Garfinkle, senior vice president at EDI. He said there are several hot movies out right now, including "Schindler's List," "Mrs. Doubtfire" and "In the Name of the Father," and people went to the movies to "escape" from earthquake concerns.

The national box office was up 14 percent for that weekend, with "Philadelphia" and "Mrs. Doubtfire" leading the pack, taking in almost $9 million each in the till for the weekend. "Mrs. Doubtfire" has been the most successful film since the Christmas holidays, with a cumulative $162.5 million in ticket sales. The last two months of 1993 were considered soft, but business turned up in January, box office tabulators noted.

By mid-week last week, there were still eight movie theaters with 30 total screens closed because of earthquake damage. United Artists was hit hardest, with three theaters and 21 screens out of commission at its multiplexes in Granada Hills, Woodland Hills (Warner Center) and in North Hollywood.

The only theater outside the San Fernando Valley area that remains closed is the Cineplex Odeon triplex at ABC Entertainment Center in Century City. (The nearby Schubert Theatre, where the play "Sunset Boulevard" is being performed, remains open.)

"All things considered, the theatrical business came through the earthquake pretty well, considering the damage to other businesses," said Tim Warner, president of the National Organization of Theater Owners California office. "There are theaters closed in the San Fernando Valley, but it's difficult to say where the business will go. I suspect some of it will go to Burbank, some to Century City and Westwood and there is that 18-screen theater at Universal City." In addition to the Cineplex Odeon, Century City has a 14-screen AMC multiplex at the Century City Shopping Center.

In an effort to maintain the theatrical business, various marketing efforts are being made. Pacific Theatres Inc. has reduced ticket prices to $3.50 at all showings at its three-screen Northridge Cinemas in Northridge. Pacific reduced prices with the co-operation of Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures and Buena Vista, the distribution arm of Walt Disney Co.

Westwood could pick up business because it came through the quake virtually without a scratch and it has the most easily accessible theater district from the parts of the San Fernando Valley where damage was heaviest, theater executives said.

Westwood sits off the San Diego Freeway (405), which also escaped major damage. Joe Fahey, a marketing assistant at Westwood Village Management Corp., said he expects the village's 10 theaters and 17 screens will pick up business from both the valley and Santa Monica. The village's merchants were taking a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Reader to promote the fact that Westwood survived. Westwood was the movie capital of the Los Angeles area until about 1990, when competition from Century City and Santa Monica drained business.

Although the quake rattled Santa Monica, 80 percent of the businesses along the Third Street Promenade were back up again late last week after being closed in the days following the quake.

But about half of the shops inside Santa Monica Place are still closed. Santa Monica Place is a major shopping center at the southern end of the promenade.

Ron Cano, executive director for the Third Street Promenade, estimated that all the businesses have been down 50 percent since the quake. To try to recoup, a meeting was held last week to devise a marketing plan to keep consumers from leaving the city.

Cano said the tentative plan was to offer free movie tickets to people who eat in the restaurants in Santa Monica. This package deal will then be advertised. Details were still coming together at press time.

Cano said he wasn't concerned about losing movie-going business to Westwood because the theaters there cater mostly to UCLA college students.

"We have a uniqueness here that makes us different from CityWalk or Westwood," he said. "Our major challenge is to project a safe and clean image."

On a typical weekend day/night, 18,000 people visit the Third Street Promenade, which has three theaters and 17 screens.