Starting Friday, Dripping Springs-area residents won't have to drive into Austin to get their film fix.
Sky Cinema, a new 14-screen movie theater, will hold a soft-opening from Jan. 26 to Feb. 1. The theater is the anchor for Belterra Village, a 93-acre mixed-use development that holds roughly 200,000 square-feet of retail space.
Bill Banowsky, creator of Sky Cinema and the Violet Crown Cinema in Austin, said he had envisioned bringing a cinema to the Dripping Springs area for several years. It offered him a way to test a new suburban cinema concept, where it can anchor a retail pad.
Banowsky said the cinema also fits a "robust and growing" market in the Dripping Springs area, which includes Wimberley, Henly and Johnson City.
"People in this market have wanted a movie theater and that's clear," Banowsky said.
Banowsky said the cinema is community-focused that "embraces and is guided by the area's family-friendly, fun, local culture," according to a press release.
The cinema will feature 14 auditoriums with stadium seating and reclining seats. Banowsky said the idea was to change the scale of the cinema to offer a more unique experience for movie-goers.
Ten of the 14 auditoriums have roughly 75 seats, Banowsky said.
"Most cinemas are built large and they're busy on the weekends, but terribly underutilized during the week," Banowsky said. "We approach it with an idea that we should have 50 or 60 seat auditoriums, rather than 200 seats, because the efficiency is higher."
He added the cinema also aims to work with local breweries and businesses in the area. According to a press release, the cinema will practice a “keep it close” culture by locally sourcing ingredients for its menu.
The economic benefit from the amount of traffic to the cinema could also be a boost for area businesses. Estimated annual attendance at Sky Cinema could range from 350,000 to 400,000 tickets sold per year, Banowsky said.
"That's a lot of people getting into their car and having a night out and they would out and about in this area," Banowsky said.
