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Landmark Theatres is billing Inwood Theatre's refurbishing as a "second life" for the historic movie theater. In reality, the theater has had almost as many lives as a cat.
"It's a great offering for the community. It's such a historic theater," Christine Mullis, who manages the property under L&B Realty Advisors said. "So many people comment that they grew up going to the movies at Inwood Theatre."
The Art Moderne theater first opened in 1947 with a screening of "The Show Off." Since then, it burned down, closed, reopened, got bought by Landmark, switched to mainly showing artistic and foreign films, remodeled several times and temporarily closed again in 2024 due to a lease default.
Landmark reached out to its landlord to cure the default, which it was able to do by moving to a month-to-month lease, Mullis said. A couple of years later, and the tenant has proved its ability to stay in the space for at least a few more years.
As part of its new three-year lease, Landmark promised to revamp the guest experience.
"We wanted to give them the opportunity to be able to really turn the ship around," Mullis said. "2026 so far has been a great year for movie theaters, and we hope it's the turning point."
The updates include installing new LED poster cases, replacing the LoveSac couches with leather recliners and refinishing the entryway terrazzo. Those improvements are set to be complete by the end of the month.
"It's been a few years since I've been to the theater, but I just told my husband, ‘Now that they have new seats, we've got to go and check it out,' " Mullis said. "I'm excited to get back into the theater."
The historic theater has seen the space around it change over the years. Now its landlords hope that new neighbors in Inwood Village such as PopUp Bagels and Jungle Studio Fitness will be a part of revitalizing the theater.
"Our hope is that the community will really rally around Landmark and Inwood Theatre," Mullis said.
Movie theaters took a hit after COVID-19 and are still struggling, but art house theaters like Inwood Theatre may be able to make a comeback as people look for a more local experience.
It's not the only historic theater in Dallas getting a reboot, either. Forest Theater in South Dallas is getting a makeover thanks to community efforts, a sign that Dallas might not be done with the movies quite yet.
Read this story on dallasnews.com
