WASHINGTON – A D.C. theater hosted its final showings Sunday after five years in business.
West End Cinema, on 23rd Street NW, opened in 2010. On its Facebook page, the theater wrote, “For the past few years, we’ve enjoyed serving the DC community of cinephiles and movie-lovers, but the time has come. We are incredibly grateful for all your support and would love to share our thanks with you for one last month…and D.C.’s best popcorn!”
West End Cinema Co-Founder Josh Levin says one of the financial challenges they were facing was increased competition for higher-end independent films, especially in the months before the Oscars.
Levin referred to films such as “Argo,” “The Social Network” and “Silver Linings Playbook,” as films that were key to subsidizing the West End’s ability to show lesser-known films.
“Those films make our year,” Levin said Sunday. “And we’re not going to get them in the future.”
The closing of the cinema was frustrating for some patrons.
“It’s a shame when they can’t make it against the big guys that run lots of movies we have no interest in seeing, or in paying $15 to see,” said one theater-goer. “It’s a shame; I can’t say I’m surprised.”
On its last weekend, the theater offered a mix of old and new movies, including “It Follows,” “Jaws” and “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” According to West End Cinema’s website, the theater also offered a full bar and food.
Here are the final movie listings for the @WestEndCinemaDC, which closes Sunday. It opened in Northwest D.C in 2010. pic.twitter.com/ffcAJyaNUQ
— Rahul Bali (@rahulbali) March 29, 2015
WTOP’s Rahul Bali contributed to this report.
