Saying Goodbye to My Childhood Theater

Back in January, I learned that the movie theater I used to go to as a kid closed their doors. I honestly couldn’t believe this news as it was such an important theater to me growing up. The website said for a bit that it was only temporally closed and that they was just looking for a new owner. However a couple weeks later, it was confirmed that the theater would be closing its doors for good. While I hadn’t been to the theater in years at this point, it was really heartbreaking to hear because this was such an important movie theater to me growing up and I never thought that I would see its doors closed down. That’s why I wanted to talk about here and be able to say goodbye to the Krikorian Metroplex 18.

I think we all have a movie theater that we went to growing up that has a special place in our heart. For me I did move a decent amount of times growing up, so I have a couple of them that I look back at with fondness. Especially those dollar theaters which always came in clutch with how cheap they were. However, out of all the theaters that I went to as a kid, there’s one that always stood out to me and carried a special feeling toward it and that was the Krikorian Metroplex 18 for me. It felt like every time I was at this theater, it was going to be a special time. Even if the movie wasn’t going to be good which of course there was multiple times when this was the case. Just being able to go to this theater still made it worth it at the end of the day.

The Krikorian Metroplex 18 opened in 2003 at the Buena Park Mall near Knotts Berry Farm. The mall area unfortunately fell into the demise with many other malls fell into where they started to lose popularity during the 2010s and before you know it, most stores would close there minus a few flagship stores. It basically looked like a liminal space in the process. However, if you were to go to the back of the mall, you would see a lot of people back there as this theater was still standing strong. It basically became the main reason why anyone would be going to this mall in the first place. Luckily it was damn good theater to go to as well.

What always fascinated me about the theater is how it looked. Outside of the theater on the side, they would have these fake movie posters that made it feel like this theater was dropped here from another universe. I think younger me must have thought some of these movies would eventually come out as well. It was something I didn’t see at other theaters which I really liked. The outside itself looked grand as you walked around it and really made itself standout among the crowd. Then you go inside and while it wasn’t doing anything too crazy like the neon light stuff that many theaters had at this time, it felt like entering a palace except you see different movie posters and decor out on the side. It worked well with this theme. Then they had two gorgeous murals to top everything off. Walking through there with smell of buttery popcorn will forever live in me.

The most iconic thing I will forever remember this theater for though is the intro that would play before the movie. Of course you have the ones that Regal and AMC play and while cool, nothing matches though with how cool the Krikorian one was. Movie clips would play throughout the intro as this kick ass music would be playing that made everyone get hyped for whatever movie you were about to watch. You get those early 2000s computer graphics of snacks you can get at the front as well as keeping your phone on silent. Then after it says “enjoy the show” it would play the last bit of movie clips to get you more hyped before the movie started. This was an intro that would really get you hyped with what you were about to watch. I’m leaving a link to this intro here so you can get an understanding of what it was like. Anyone that went to a Krikorian theater growing knows how much this intro rocks and what it felt like seeing it before the film started. Now it makes me want to play it before watching movies at home just to feel something again.

Of course what makes this theater special is the movies that I got to see there. I remember when I was younger there would be random movies that I would see there like Rise of the Silver Surfer. But of course this theater had many memories of where I would see movies that were special to me. I would see every Avengers movie beside Infinity War here. I would see Spider-Man on the big screen for the first time there with The Amazing Spider-Man. 10 year old me would have his mind blown with how good a sequel could be with Kung Fu Panda 2. I would get to see the re release of Titanic at 12 which changed my life seeing it. Of course though, one of my favorite memories was watching Creed and having this shared experience with my dad as he grew up watching the Rocky movies and then him showing me the movies as well. There’s many more movies that I could name here, but this was a theater that I felt like I saw so many movies that mean a lot to me.

The last movie I would end up seeing at this theater was Avengers Endgame which was almost 7 years ago. Covid would kick in a year later and then I would move a year after that. When I heard it closed I thought of the movies that I saw there and the memories made. One thing that stuck out to me was whenever I saw a movie there, it was always with my dad. My dad passed away in 2023 and he’s one of the reasons why I love film the way I do today. Him showing me films that he grew up with is something I always cherish. It feels weird when a place that you got to experience with someone that isn’t here anymore also isn’t there as well. Even after we moved further away from there, this theater would always be one that we would hit up. Maybe not for every movie, but when the timing was good, this was the theater we would go to. I’ll always be forever grateful that I got to make those memories there with him and it’s the biggest reason I’m going to miss this theater.

To give this theater a proper goodbye, I visited it while I was in town and also did something else for it. I’m approaching graduation for college and I did want to do a graduation photoshoot. I thought of ideas for it, but I couldn’t land on one that felt right for the occasion. Then I thought of doing it at this theater. It felt like it made sense to do a graduation shoot for a theater that would be a big reason for why I love movies the way I do today. I didn't know how it would turn out with it being a location that usually wouldn’t be used for this type of thing, but the shots look beautiful and I can’t till everyone sees the rest (also shoutout my homie for taking amazing pictures in the process).

As I returned to this theater, It felt weird seeing this area that was filled with life before as a kid barely have anyone in it now. You could look through the windows of the theater and things are still standing there as if it was just abandoned. One of the last things that this theater will have on display is for Chris Pratt’s Mercy and that feels like a crime seeing that. In all seriousness though, as I was walking around, I thought of all the memories that were made here and I’m always going to be glad that I get to have those. I’m happy that my dad let this be one of the theaters I grew up with and it will forever hold a special place in my heart.

I wanted to give a proper goodbye to a theater that I will forever cherish. This theater that I went to growing up needed some appreciation for how much it meant to me. If there’s a small chance that comes by and someone ends up buying the theater, I would really love that and I hope it opens the door for others to grow up with this theater the same way I did. I’m thankful for the memories made here and I will forever miss it.