Photo by Keith Heffintrayer.
Renew Theaters, which owns County Theater in Doylestown as well, has found a boost in business thanks to two recent blockbusters and the quaint feel of community.
Actress Margot Robbie, director Greta Gerwig, actor Cillian Murphy, and director Christopher Nolan may not know it, but they have helped keep people in the seats of the Ambler Theater.
In a eyebrow-raising outcome of events, Renew Theaters, which operates Ambler Theater, as well as the County Theater in Doylestown, the Hiway Theater in Jenkinton and Princeton Garden Theatre in New Jersey, finds business is booming as much as the atomic bomb dropped in “Oppenheimer.”
According to a WHYY article, Ambler Theater raked in 80,000 visitors last year, bolstered by unique theater events like birthday parties, public meetings, and book signings.
Its competitors, like Cineworld, which runs hundreds of Regal Theaters across the county, were not as lucky; Cineworld shut down the Regal Barn Plaza in Warrington and the Regal Oaks in Upper Providence last year, according to WHYY. Even showing “Barbie” in the debt-ridden AMC Theaters was not Ken-ough.
Thanks to the cultural phenomenon a couple months back known as “Barbenheimer,” Renew Theaters saw a surge in business, which was especially welcoming after the fallout of the Covid pandemic and rise of streaming services at home, per the report.
“‘Barbenheimer’ was huge for us and one of the things that finally brought people back to the theater,” said Chris Collier, executive director of Renew, in the WHYY report. “We had a lot of people saying this was the first time that they were back. 2023 was an exceptional year with a lot of good movies.”
And Ambler Borough can actually thank the Warner Bros. themselves for bringing a theater to town, according to the article. The movie company opened the theater in 1928 with the premiere of “Our Dancing Daughters,” per the article. Soon, vaudeville was the rage at the theater.
Then, Ambler – and its businesses – fell on hard times in the 1970s. A reverend attempted to turn Amber Theater into a Christian cinema. It lasted two decades before falling apart, per the report.
The historic building sat – until a woman came to the rescue. Her name was Bernadette Dougherty, and she sat on the Ambler Theater Board in the late 1990s through the early 2000s, when she was inspired to pitch the idea of a theater to County Theater founder John Toner, according to WHYY.
Then, after months and months of steadfastness, Ambler Theater owner Gary Bristow sold it to Dougherty and entrepreneur Mike Sloane, per the report.
The rest is cinematic history.
Read more on the success and history of Ambler Theater here.
