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Another Bay Area movie theater, CGV San Francisco, closing permanently

Amanda Bartlett, SFGATE

Updated: Feb. 28, 2023 3:23 p.m.[/url]

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The interior of CGV San Francisco on Feb. 27, 2023.

Amanda Bartlett/SFGATE

The 14-screen CGV San Francisco was set to permanently close Tuesday after operating out of the historic Don Lee Building on the corner of Van Ness Avenue and O’Farrell streets for just shy of two years.

Jordan Covington, an employee of the movie theater, confirmed the closure to SFGATE on Monday afternoon as a handful of customers trickled in for screenings of “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” and “Everything Everywhere All At Once.” The theater’s website does not list any movie showtimes after Tuesday, and Covington said that he and at least 15 other employees had been notified about two weeks earlier. 

“I’m pretty sad that it’s closing, because it was fun working here,” Covington said as he checked tickets and guided people to their seats. “But we knew it was coming.” 
CGV Cinemas, the world's fifth-largest movie chain, based in South Korea, took over the former Cadillac and Lincoln dealership in September 2021 after it had been occupied by AMC from the summer of 1998 until February 2019. At the time of its opening, it was considered the largest multiplex in the city with more than 3,000 seats. 

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The exterior of CGV San Francisco on Feb. 27, 2023

Amanda Bartlett/SFGATE

But AMC parted ways with the 101-year-old city landmark amid an ongoing construction project that impacted several businesses along Van Ness Avenue, as well as customer complaints that the venue had “become a dump in the last few years.” When CGV took over the space, it became the largest of its three theaters in the U.S., with other locations in Los Angeles and Buena Park. Despite equipping the San Francisco theater with 4DX technology that enhances on-screen visuals with synchronized motion seats and other sensory special effects, Covington said it never really found its audience. 

“There’s been a lot of problems, honestly,” he said. “This is the only [CGV] location in the city. It was a hard time for a new company to start up here. We get a couple of people here and there and they ask, ‘Oh, is anyone coming in? We come here all the time and this big space is just empty.’”

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The exterior of CGV San Francisco on Feb. 27, 2023

Amanda Bartlett/SFGATE

On its slowest days, Covington said the theater would see “maybe 15 people for eight movies,” but that promotional screenings — most recently, showings of “Avatar: The Way of Water” — packed the space with hundreds of people. He noted that scant visibility and marketing may have also contributed to the theater’s eventual demise. 

The future of the space is unclear, but Covington said he heard it may eventually be utilized for promotional screenings and film festivals. A spokesperson for CGV Cinemas did not respond to multiple requests for comment from SFGATE.

Written By 
Amanda Bartlett

Amanda Bartlett is a culture reporter for SFGATE. Prior to joining the newsroom in 2019, she worked for the Roxie Theater, Noise Pop and Frameline Film Festival. She lives in San Francisco with her rabbit, Cheeto.

This saddens me greatly. I’ve seen many a screener here.