Scott Johnson

Montgomery Advertiser

Carmike Cinemas' new theater on Chantilly Parkway will open July 18 and feature a 561-seat, "Big D" auditorium that "blows IMAX out of the water," according to a district manager.

The auditorium will be the centerpiece of Carmike 13 and will feature stadium seating with leather, reclining seats and an 85-foot screen.

The theater also will cater to moviegoers who like to sip some beer or wine while taking in a movie. The Montgomery City Council approved the theater's request for a beer and wine license Tuesday evening.

There will be no box office outside the theater. Instead, visitors will buy both their tickets and concessions inside at the same counter. There will be a separate line devoted solely to alcohol purchases.

Customers will be able to order popcorn at the concessions stand and then pick it up at a standalone "popcorn factory" across the lobby. Carmike Cinemas General Manager Tony Sellers said that will speed up the process of buying tickets and concessions.

The "Big D" auditorium

screen will feature 11.1 surround sound and two digital projectors casting more than 30,000 lumens onto the screen.

"It is far better than IMAX," District Manager Domenick Barone said. "Better sound, bigger screens, better seating. IMAX can't really hold a candle to this ... auditorium."

Alcohol sales

James Pittman, a Daphne-based attorney for Carmike, said the movie theater chain is adding alcohol sales to its theaters in part to help it compete in an age of streaming video services such as Netflix.

"People want the privilege of having a beer or a drink of wine," Pittman said, adding that having alcohol available has been shown to improve sales at movie theaters.

It will not be the only movie theater in Montgomery serving alcohol. The Capri Theatre, the city's only independent movie theater, has been serving beer and wine for several years.

Carmike has filed applications to serve beer and wine in several Alabama cities where it has theaters. Montgomery is the first city in the state to grant a license to a Carmike theater.

Pittman said Carmike would have several safeguards in place to ensure that minors would not be served alcohol at the theater.

Identification will be scanned to ensure that the ID is valid, and the person who shows the ID cannot buy more than one drink at a time.

Those who show ID will be given a wristband, and there will be a limit on how many drinks that person can buy during that trip to the theater, he said.

Also, beer and wine will be served in clear cups as opposed to the opaque cups used for soft drinks, and drinks will not be allowed to be taken outside the theater, he said.

"(Carmike) basically just imposed on themselves regulations or operating procedures over and above the very conservative regulations in place by the (Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control) Board," Pittman said.

Council vote

Montgomery City Councilman Jon Dow cast the lone vote against granting the license when it came before the council Tuesday evening.

Dow said the city is running out of places that do not serve alcohol.

"You just don't want to put people in uncomfortable situations, and I think that's what they're going to do," Dow said. "I'm not the moral conscience of the council. I'm just a parent who takes his children and grandchildren to movies, and I wouldn't want to sit next to someone (drinking alcohol)."

Dow said some people might show up at the theater having already had drinks elsewhere.

"To give them more drinks while they are there may disrupt my movie viewing by their behavior," he said.

Pittman said he does not think serving alcohol will cause disruptions for other guests.

"We just don't anticipate a lot of problems. People are there to watch the movie, not to drink a lot of alcohol," he said.