The Park Theatre in Vancouver taken over by Rio Theatre team
We found out last week that the Park Theatre on Cambie Street was closing down for good, and it was just revealed that the folks at the legendary Rio Theatre in Vancouver will be taking over.
The Park Theatre was owned and operated by Cineplex, and it had been in operation for over 80 years.
Yesterday marked its final day in operation.
“We’ve made the difficult decision to close our The Park Theatre location, but we look forward to welcoming guests to our nearby locations: Fifth Avenue Cinemas, Scotiabank Theatre Vancouver, and Cineplex Odeon International Village Cinemas,” Alannah O’Farrell, Cineplex Communications Coordinator, told Daily Hive Urbanized.
On Monday morning, Daily Hive Urbanized learned that the Rio Theatre team, alongside funding from some of the top names in local film, will be replacing Park Theatre’s management and keeping the space alive.
One of the people involved is someone Daily Hive spoke to not too long ago, film producer Chris Ferguson.
“The Rio team approached Vancouver-based producer and owner of Oddfellows Pictures and co-owner of Phobos, Chris Ferguson, to assemble a group of passionate filmmakers and film professionals to finance this new project,” a news release revealed.
“The Rio Theatre is very excited by the opportunity to revive Vancouver’s historic, art-deco Park Theatre in the beloved Cambie Village neighbourhood,” says Rio Theatre Owner Corinne Lea.
“We are grateful for the support of this impressive group of film industry professionals, and could not do this without them! After almost two decades of rocking the Rio, we look forward to this expansion and bringing the same fun, energy and passion to a new location.”
Lea’s not lying about the “impressive group” as there are some major players involved.
“The new Park Theatre team is led by the Rio’s CEO Corinne Lea, along with investment from filmmakers including Chris Ferguson (Backrooms, The Young People), Osgood Perkins (Longlegs, The Monkey), Mike Flanagan (Doctor Sleep, The Life of Chuck), Academy Award winners Sean Baker (Anora, The Florida Project) and Samantha Quan (Anora, Red Rocket), and Zach Lipovsky (Final Destination Bloodlines, Freaks),” the release stated.
But there’s more.
“Other financiers include award-winning actor, musician and director Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things, It) and world-renowned film industry professionals from behind the camera including, film editor Graham Fortin (Keeper, The Monkey), sound designer Eugenio Battaglia (Eternity, Heretic), post supervisor Andy Levine (Longlegs, Heretic), film coordinator Jill Orsten, and film attorney Christina Bulbrook (A Complete Unknown, The Monkey).”
It’s quite the triumph considering where the Rio Theatre was not too long ago, at a real risk of shutting down forever.
“Film is so central to the essence of Vancouver. I’m thrilled, not only that we were able to save this historic theatre that I went to as a child, but that it was a group of some of our most significant filmmakers who came together to do it,” Ferguson said.
“There’s no one in the city I would trust more to keep it alive than the team at the Rio,” he added.