Closed since 2020, theater to reopen — with cheapest first-run movie tickets in Boise

When Northgate Reel Theatre reopens on Thanksgiving weekend, it won’t just be the first time it has raised the curtain in over a year.

Fresh butter will be drizzled on its business model.

A longtime discount cinema, the six-screen multiplex at 6950 W. State St. is being rebranded as a first-run theater. When it reopens officially on Friday, Nov. 26, it will show new releases such as “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” and Disney’s animated “Encanto.”

Prices will be raised. But wallets shouldn’t be too fazed.

Northgate Reel will sell the lowest-priced tickets in the Treasure Valley for first-run movies, Reel Theatres co-owner Eric Denning said.

“Hopefully, people are willing to attend a first-run location that’s, honestly, still discount,” he said.

For more than a decade, Northgate Reel has booked movies after they’ve run their course at first-run theaters. It’s a practice that allows discount theaters — also called second-run theaters — to sell cheap tickets. For example, Country Club Reel, 4550 W. Overland Road, charges $3 for general admission.

A regional chain, Reel temporarily shuttered locations in October 2020 because of the pandemic. As they slowly reopened, Northgate stayed dark. Nestled in a West Boise strip mall, the dated multiplex is the last Reel theater to return.

Crunching the numbers, Reel management decided that it made sense to try first-run films, Denning said.

Northgate isn’t as snazzy as modern competitors. “It’s a fact,” Denning admits. Consequently, prices will reflect that. Northgate’s evening tickets are $8 adult, $6 child or senior. Matinees before 5 p.m. are $6 for everyone. Movies on Tuesdays are $5. Moviegoers pay an extra buck for 3D films.

Popcorn and drink prices? Yeah, let’s not get into that. (Theaters have to make a few pennies somehow, right?)

In recent years, Reel has branched into luxury moviegoing with first-run Eagle Luxe and Caldwell Luxe locations. But the chain still is widely known as a discount brand in the Treasure Valley.

Denning is hopeful Northgate’s evolution will receive a warm welcome.

“I’m slightly nervous,” he said, “but I think it’ll be good.”

This story was originally published November 18, 2021 at 4:19 PM.