70mm Presentations in Tampa Bay | Read more at in70mm.com The 70mm Newsletter |
| Compiled by: Michael Coate | Date: 02.10.2021 |
 Lawrence of Arabia Tampa Bay premiere advert, Tampa Times, 29th May 1963What follows is a chronology of 70-millimeter six-track stereophonic sound feature-film presentations in the greater Tampa/St. Petersburg metropolitan area (aka Tampa Bay) of Florida, USA. The focus of this work is 5-perf 70mm feature films and the cinemas in which they were exhibited. Short subjects, 8-perf and 15-perf (IMAX, Iwerks, etc.) and Special Venue presentations have not been included (but consideration will be given to adding them in a revision). The emphasis here is on the titles that received publicly-promoted, commercial exhibition in 70mm and their playdates. To facilitate an easy-to-reference title- and date-based layout, no details have been provided pertaining to the brand of 70mm (i.e. Todd-AO, Super Panavision, Ultra Panavision, Cinerama, D-150, etc.) or technical particulars of each presentation (i.e. O-neg source, inter-neg source, blow-up, pillarboxed, letterboxed, Dolby A, Dolby SR, five screen channels vs. three, baby boom, split surround, digital sound, etc.). Part 1: The 70mm-Equipped Cinemas BRANDON Regency Square 8 CLEARWATER Clearwater 8 / The Movies at Clearwater Trans-Lux / Sunshine Mall LARGO Tri-City 8 PINELLAS PARK Palms ST. PETERSBURG Center Crossroads Crossroads 8 Loews Plaza Twin TAMPA Britton Hillsboro 8 Mission Bell 8 / The Movies at Mission Bell Northdale Court 6 Palace Park University Collection 6 Veterans 24 TARPON SPRINGS Klosterman Point An overview of each cinema will be provided in a forthcoming revision. Part 2: The 70mm Presentations Opening date YYYY-MM-DD TITLE Cinema (duration in weeks) [notes] * Reserved-seat engagement (i.e. roadshow) 1958-11-19 SOUTH PACIFIC* Britton (21) 1959-04-15 SLEEPING BEAUTY Britton (5) 1959-12-25 THE BIG FISHERMAN Center (6) 1960-02-04 BEN-HUR* Center (34) 1960-06-29 CAN-CAN* Park (10) 1960-09-29 CAN-CAN* Center (8) 1960-12-22 SPARTACUS* Center (11) 1961-03-08 EXODUS* Center (9) 1961-12-20 KING OF KINGS* Center (9) 1962-02-22 EL CID* Center (12) 1962-05-17 OKLAHOMA! Center (3) 1963-02-01 MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY* Center (9) 1963-05-29 LAWRENCE OF ARABIA* Center (11) 1964-05-27 ITS A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD Palace (12) [70mm?] 1964-08-21 CIRCUS WORLD* Palace (8) 1964-11-25 MY FAIR LADY* Center (31) 1965-04-07 THE SOUND OF MUSIC* Palace (77) 1965-06-30 THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES* Center (15) 1966-01-19 THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY* Center (8) 1966-03-17 DOCTOR ZHIVAGO* Center (36) 1966-12-23 DOCTOR ZHIVAGO Palace (8) 1967-02-01 THE BIBLE* Palms (23) 1967-02-15 THE SAND PEBBLES* Center (17) 1967-02-17 GRAND PRIX* Palace (11) 1967-11-22 CAMELOT* Center (27) 1967-12-22 GONE WITH THE WIND* Loews (27) 1968-02-07 DOCTOR DOLITTLE* Palms (15) 1968-06-12 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY* Palace (15) 1968-10-25 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY* Center (9) 1968-12-19 THE SHOES OF THE FISHERMAN* Loews (11) 1968-12-19 STAR!* Palms (13) 1968-12-20 ICE STATION ZEBRA* Palace (10) 1969-01-08 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY Trans-Lux (2) 1969-06-27 SWEET CHARITY* Crossroads (7) 1969-08-15 KRAKATOA, EAST OF JAVA Palace (6) 1969-12-17 GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS* Loews (7) 1969-12-17 HELLO, DOLLY!* Crossroads (27) 1970-05-15 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY Loews (3) 1970-05-22 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY Palace (3) 1971-02-19 SONG OF NORWAY* Palace (11) 1973-03-23 THE SOUND OF MUSIC Palace (14) 1973-07-03 THIS IS CINERAMA Palace (6) 1983-09-30 BRAINSTORM Plaza (5) 1985-07-26 2010 Northdale Court (1) 1986-04-11 AMADEUS University Collection (3) 1986-05-10 TOP GUN University Collection (sneak preview) 1986-05-16 TOP GUN University Collection (25) [unconfirmed] 1986-07-18 ALIENS Northdale Court (15) [70mm from Week 9] 1986-07-18 ALIENS Tri-City (13) 1986-09-26 GONE WITH THE WIND Tri-City (1) 1989-05-24 INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE Crossroads (12) 1989-05-24 INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE Hillsboro (12) 1989-10-20 LAWRENCE OF ARABIA Mission Bell (7) 1990-06-15 DICK TRACY Crossroads (7) 1990-06-15 DICK TRACY Hillsboro (6) 1990-06-15 DICK TRACY Northdale Court (10) 1990-06-15 DICK TRACY Regency Square (8) [70mm from Week 7] 1990-06-15 DICK TRACY Tri-City (18) 1992-05-09 FAR AND AWAY Hillsboro (sneak preview) 1992-05-16 FAR AND AWAY Crossroads (sneak preview) 1992-05-16 FAR AND AWAY Hillsboro (sneak preview) 1992-05-16 FAR AND AWAY Northdale Court (sneak preview) 1992-05-22 FAR AND AWAY Crossroads (7) 1992-05-22 FAR AND AWAY Hillsboro (8) 1992-05-22 FAR AND AWAY Northdale Court (10) 1992-12-25 HOFFA Clearwater (6) 1992-12-25 HOFFA Hillsboro (4) 2015-12-25 THE HATEFUL EIGHT Veterans (1+) 2017-07-20 DUNKIRK Veterans (1+) Note that some of the titles included in this chronology may have been presented in 35mm (or, recently, DCP) during the latter week(s) of their engagement due to contractual terms or print damage (and the distributors unwillingness to supply a 70mm replacement print) or because the booking was moved to a non-70mm-equipped auditorium within a multiplex. As well, the reverse may have been true in some cases whereas a booking began with a 35mm print because the lab was unable to complete the 70mm print order in time for an opening-day delivery or the exhibitor negotiated a mid-run switch to 70mm. In these cases, any 35mm portion of the engagement has been included in the duration figure. During the roadshow era, the reserved-seat policy, in some instances, was relaxed during the summer and/or latter weeks of the run. Any non-roadshow portion of such an engagement has been included in the applicable duration figure. References: Various issues of Boxoffice, The Hollywood Reporter, Motion Picture Exhibitor, St. Petersburg Times, The Tampa Tribune, Variety, and projection and sound system trade advertisements and installation records. Special Thanks: Laura Baas (State Library of Florida) and Nick DiMaggio. If you believe this article contains any errors or omissions, please consider emailing the author or editor. | More in 70mm reading: 70mm Cinemas in North America Chronological premiere list of major 70mm films Month by month premiere list of wide gauge and 3-strip films 70mm Engagements 70mm Blow Up List Dolby Stereo Internet link: |
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