Hayley Benton

hbenton@citizen-times.com

Carolina Cinemas announced to its vendors that the luxury theaters owned by the Charlotte-based company will transfer hands to national theater chain Cinemark USA, on Wednesday.

Carolina Cinemas Director of Operations Hope Branch confirmed the transfer of ownership set for March 23, and on Wednesday, the small Carolina theater chain posted about the sale on its Facebook: "The Carolina Asheville has been acquired by Cinemark, a national theatre circuit operating more than 500 movie theatres across the country. We have known the Cinemark folks for many years and have always been impressed with their strong focus on customer service. Under Cinemark's ownership, the theatre will offer the latest technological advances in the movie theatre industry and will continue to provide the absolute best entertainment experience for years to come. ... We sincerely thank you for being our guest and enjoying your entertainment experience with us. We are confident that this will remain your favorite place to enjoy the magic of the movies."

Carolina Cinemas operated four theaters, including The Carolina on Hendersonville Road in South Asheville. Other theaters affected by this change are the Charlotte and Raleigh theaters, as well as the Movies10 theater, in the Charlotte suburb of Matthews. Similar posts went up on the other theaters' pages.

Cinemark owns and operates more than 300 theaters across the country - three of which are located in North Carolina. The company, headquartered in Plano, Texas, owns theaters in Salisbury, Greensboro and Asheboro.

Pending a statement from Cinemark, it's unclear whether any changes will be made to the local theaters, which are known for their unique, "gourmet" menus, selection of local craft beer and wine, sofa-style theater seating and, in Asheville, special showings of art films. In the last few months, however, the national company announced that it added luxury seating to several of its existing Texas theaters -- and, as of October, a Cinemark theater in Colorado now offers an "in-theater dining experience" to its customers. Still no say on the future of art films yet.

Cinemark is the third largest theater chain in the country, with 337 theaters and 4,518 screens across 41 states - and an additional 176 international theaters across 14 countries in Latin America.

Earlier this month, in other theater-related news, AMC Entertainment announced its $1.1 billion acquisition of Carmike Cinemas, pushing AMC ahead of Regal as the largest theater chain in the country.