| | 70mm Presentations in Tampa Bay A Chronology of 70mm Large Format Exhibition, 1958-Present | 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 1963
What 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
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