Everything new is old again. Almost 85 years after opening with "The Desert Song" on one colossal screen — and 18 years since it split into five screens, and 15 since adding two more — Albany's Madison Theatre is poised to reopen with two screens and a fresh commitment to vintage cinema.

No longer will the movie house show first-run releases. Instead, starting Friday, the reinvenwted, renovated landmark at Madison and Main will offer oldies but goodies. Some are older than others; some are more revered in the canon of film history. But all of them will go for $5 a pop — $40 for a ten-pack — and all of them, in this era of man-caving media consumption, will be projected onto the big screen.

"We're gonna be doing classics," says Dan Laiosa, co-owner and manager of the theater. "But in film lingo, any movie over six months old is a classic."

The plan, right now, is four movies per week in two 130-seat theaters. Mondays will be dark. The times will be more or less consistent, so cinephiles can generally bank on 7 p.m. or 9:30 p.m. weeknight screenings, with some tweaks to make room, say, for a four-hour "Lawrence of Arabia." That 1962 David Lean epic — the quintessence of widescreen filmcraft — is scheduled to open Friday, Feb. 28, alongside fellow Oscar winners "American Beauty," "The Deer Hunter" and "Gandhi."

For the opening week, it's all Paul Newman: "Slapshot," "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," "Cool Hand Luke," "The Sting." They run Friday through next Thursday, Jan. 24.

"We're trying to be family friendly, super-affordable — you know, definitely a film alternative," Laiosa says in the theater's lobby, which looks more or less the same. The wine-colored carpet remains, and the new marquee out front resembles the old one. But behind the scenes lurk significant change, including, eventually, a new store and performance space.

Laisoa says and his business partners are movie nuts, if not experts. "I love the classics. I love good drama. And we all like action movies, too — and stupid comedies," he says. "I watched 'Indiana Jones' and 'Star Wars' probably 900 times in my life."

Indiana's coming the second week of March. Other weeks pack on the John Hughes (including "Pretty in Pink"), martial arts (from "Drunken Master" to "Kung Fu Panda") and certain flowering herbs ("The Big Lebowski"). So far, the oldest flick on the schedule is the original 1932 "Scarface," along with its 1991 remake and both iterations of "Cape Fear." The most recent is last year's "World War Z," which pops up on a zombie-and-horror blitz in late March that also features Hitchcock's "Psycho."

And in early February: "Animal House." Togas encouraged.

In other words, anything goes. If it's not new, and it's available on digital, they're open to it.

"We're gonna have a suggestion box," says another co-owner, Darren Grout. "And there's a little of everything, to find out what the winning formula is. Because out of the gate, I couldn't tell you for sure what it's going to be."

The theater will open officially with a ribbon-cutting from 5 to 6 p.m. Friday, complete with wine, cheese, Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan, State Assembly member Pat Fahy and Virginia Hammer of the Beautify Upper Madison Project and the Pine Hills Neighborhood Association. The public is welcome.

Grout, Laiosa and co-owner Gunther Fishgold are purchasing the Madison and two digital projectors in a lease-to-own agreement with the current owners, who also own Amsterdam's Emerald Cinemas and bought the Pine Hills property in 2005. By then, the Madison's history was a messy saga of closings, reopenings, renamings (as the Norma Jean and back again), more closings and, at its low point, near-demolition. In 2004, the neighboring CVS suggested razing it for a drive-through.

The partners also own Tierra Farm, an organic nut and coffee business in Valatie, as well as two cafes — Tierra Coffee Roasters — abutting both the Madison and the Spectrum Theatre on Delaware Avenue. They had hoped to extend their lease at the shop on Madison when the Emerald people, announcing plans to sell the entire building, asked if they might want to buy it themselves. They did.

The idea to turn two theaters into what is, essentially, a revival house seemed a no-brainer, the owners say. New releases are covered by the Spectrum and the multiplexes. Scotia Cinema gets second run. And anyway, Grout says, new movies cost more. They take up too much real estate, for too long; studios require theaters to screen them a set number of weeks. And, to put it bluntly, sometimes they stink. "What if it's a bust? ... What if you get a dud?" Grout asks. "Then you're stuck showing it for a period of time."

Otherwise, he says, they're simply trying to offer fare that's not available everywhere. "Instead of just going head-to-head with what's abundant, we're trying to do something a little more interesting. ... Not everybody wants to go out and spend 12 bucks on a movie."

Film is the first piece of their plan for the structure: each movie theater boasts new seats, new sound, refitted screens. Opening in March or April: a roasted nut and coffee store at the front of the building, taking the place of three teensy, 40-seat theaters. Finally, in 12-18 months: a 400- to 500-seat live performance venue, converting those last three theaters at the back. That's still a long way off, but Fishgold says they'll probably book "more mellow programming" — jazz, comedy, community events, maybe some rock.

Otherwise, getting ready has been a matter of fixing, de-cluttering, stocking, spiffing up. New toilets. No scattered film containers and other junk cramming the upstairs office space. New snacks at the concession stand, now filled with Gin Gins organic ginger candy and licorice from Newman's Own. (So this weekend, you can snack on one Newman while watching another on-screen.) Popcorn will be organic. Butter will be real. "And we're just going to be doing sodas out of a cooler, so we're not going to be super-sizing anyone," Laiosa says. "If you want a large, you can buy two sodas."

He and his co-owners are playing it all by ear, he says. "We're new to all this. We're new to movies." He's always been "a sales guy," and here he is, running a theater. But he and his partners regard this as more than a business venture.

"We're not as profit-minded with this as we are with some other businesses, either. ... Ideally, we're trying to lead with the community side, and be cool with the community," he says. "And hopefully, people will come." Later on, he repeats this sentiment: "If it's nice, people come."

That sounds like the "if you build it" line from "Field of Dreams," he's told. He laughs in agreement.

More Information If you go The Madison Theatre When: Ribbon-cutting 5-6 p.m. Friday; opening on two screens (with "Slapshot" and "Cool Hand Luke") at 7 p.m. Friday Where: The Madison Theatre, 1036 Madison Ave., Albany Tickets: $5 Info: 438-2094; http://www.themadisontheater.com See More Collapse

Not quite, Grout says. True, the 1989 baseball fantasy would be a good one to screen at the revamped Madison, but the movie analogy isn't perfect. "Well, no — because it's already been built." Instead, he says, "If you clean it, they will come."

abiancolli@timesunion.com • 518-454-5439 • @AmyBiancolli