The Molokaʻi community is getting excited for concession snacks, comfy theater seats, and even a phone app to reserve their movie tickets and food.
“Yes, popcorn! We're going to have popcorn. We're going to have pizza, hot dogs — all the standard things you would get at a regular movie theater,” said The Mango Theater owner Brad Ellis.
This IS a regular movie theater — except it's on Molokaʻi, where there hasn’t been a theater since 2008.
“Folks now get on planes to go to fly, to go see movies, right, so we want this to be as nice, if not nicer than the experience of having to travel to see a movie,” Ellis said.
Ellis and his wife, Grace, bought the Kaunakakai building and renovated it as retail space back in 2018. A theater wasn’t in their plans until community members urged them to consider it.
Now, after years of permitting and pandemic delays, The Mango Theater is becoming a reality next month. It’s just awaiting a couple of final touches.
“We walk down this aisle — careful with the construction — and into our theater, which is, I think, beautiful.”
The single-screen theater has padded black walls, Molokaʻi art, a laser projector for the big screen and seating for 45 people.
“They're not the big reclining, luxury chairs, but they are very comfy,” said Ellis, as he sat down and sank into the seat. “And they're rockers, very comfortable.”
Ellis said they also had a multi-use space in mind.
“We've also designed this so that it's more than a movie theater,” he said. "It can be a community gathering spot. So here we've put in a countertop with a sink and an under-counter refrigerator, so people can come in with a birthday party or a business meeting or something and set up their own food in the back.”
The theater will be open four nights a week to start. Ellis said they’ll cater to the community’s movie preferences.
“There's so much content out there now that we've missed out on here on Molokaʻi, right, so we have lots and lots of stuff to choose from, but we're going to have first-run movies. We're going to start off, we believe our first movie will be 'Moana 2.'”
Anticipation is building for the island’s residents.
“I'm so excited for this to happen. We need something for the community, something for the family to get back together again,” said Molokaʻi's Annette English. “I'm happy it came back.”
She remembers when there used to be four theaters on Molokaʻi in the 1950s and '60s.
“At that time, like the sodas was like only 10 cents, and the coconut candy in the small little package like 5 cents, 10 cents.”
A ticket to the movies in Maunaloa town on Molokaʻi's west end cost just 25 cents.
“They had the small little hole, you go over there, line up, pay your 25 cents, she will give you a ticket,” English recalled.
Still, growing up in a family of nine kids, she said they often couldn't afford a ticket, so when they were young, they’d sometimes sneak into the movies. They’d sit in the back, drink a bottle of Coke, then roll the bottles down the dark theater aisle.
“Bang, bang, bang! And then you get these older parents, like, screaming at us, like, ‘What are you guys doing?’ We kind of just ducked down because it's not lighted, you know, it's all dark,” she laughed.
She remembers when theaters across the island showed "Endless Summer."
"It was a really big thing and the whole Molokaʻi came. And the line was so long, and that was so neat," English said.
While the new theater will bring nostalgia for many kūpuna, the island’s keiki will experience it for the first time. The last theater on Molokaʻi closed nearly 20 years ago.
Now, Ellis said he’s looking forward to finally opening the doors of The Mango Theater.
“We're hoping that it's going to be a good thing, that it will be well received, and that it'll be seen as a really positive thing for the island.”
Ellis said they're looking at pricing tickets at $12 for general admission, $10 for kūpuna and students, and $8 for keiki.
