After two decades as a beloved community staple, Germantown’s Regal Theater is closing its doors for good effective Dec. 1, 2024. Many are distraught over this as the theater held many memories and was a big part of local kids’ childhoods. Regal has been in operation since May 2002, and was the only nearby theater until an AMC opened in Rio years later. The theater is being sold, as the property, owned by realty income corporation, is looking to sell the 7 acre property. The property is still on the market, so there are no immediate plans for what’s to come next. 

Julia Alexander (12) explains that the Germantown Regal Theater held “a lot of family memories,” and that going to see movies there was her family’s “go-to thing,” in their free time. Furthermore, her favorite memory at the theater includes seeing the Barbie movie with her friend as well as “family movie nights,” when she was younger. Julia will miss the theater as it was “cheap, nearby and a good family activity,” as well as it being in close proximity to Chick-fil-a. As this has been in the news for a while now, Julia includes how her peers were “shocked” at the closing of the theater, since a lot of people still go to watch movies there. 

Mia Dove’s (11) favorite memory at the Germantown Regal Theater was “seeing Frozen for the first time with [her] dad.” Mia enjoyed the theater, and explains how “it helped [her] make a lot of good memories with [her] parents.” Additionally, Mia saw her favorite movie, Cars 2, at this theater for the first time, when it had just come out. After hearing the news of the theater shutting down, Mia expresses that her “parents were pretty upset, because [her] and [her sister] grew up going to Germantown Regal.” Likewise, Mia and her sister were devastated over the news, as they always wanted to “go together now that [they’re] older.”

It’s clear that the Germantown Regal Theater will be deeply missed by locals and memories made there will last forever in our minds.