‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ can’t save this Boise movie theater. It’s closing permanently

Michael Deeds
·2 min read

If you’re an old-school Boisean, it’s time to buy a ticket for one last trip down memory lane.

You won’t even need to feel guilty for spilling extra popcorn on the floor.

Northgate Reel Theatre, 6950 W. State St., is turning off the projectors. It will close permanently after screenings Thursday, Aug. 3, according to an email from Reel Theatres’ Janice Costa.

Eric Denning, the regional chain’s co-owner, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

With a history that stretches back to the prior century, the dated multiplex is a familiar entertainment destination at Glenwood and State streets. Along with Albertsons grocery store and Rite Aid, it’s one of the primary tenants at Northgate Shopping Center. Longtime Idahoans might remember Northgate Reel under a different name, such as Cineplex Odeon Northgate Cinemas in the 1990s.

Northgate Reel shuttered temporarily during the pandemic. But it reopened Thanksgiving weekend of 2021 with a fresh business model.

For the prior decade-plus, it had been a discount theater showing films after they’d run their course at first-run theaters. But Reel changed gears and began offering new movies at Northgate — at the cheapest prices in town.

Tickets to current box-office hits “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” cost $8 for adults in the evening, $6 for children, seniors and matinees, and $5 for everyone on Tuesdays.

Although the multiplex had different operators over the decades, Reel Theatres has owned it for many years.
Although the multiplex had different operators over the decades, Reel Theatres has owned it for many years.

“Hopefully, people are willing to attend a first-run location that’s, honestly, still discount,” Denning told the Idaho Statesman when the theater was reopened.

A regional chain, Reel operates in Idaho, Oregon, Utah and California. It temporarily shuttered all its theaters in October 2020 because of the pandemic. As they were slowly reopened, Northgate stayed dark. It was the last Reel theater to return.

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