Local moviegoers have been waiting anxiously for the theater, which was announced in February 2014.
The new theater will feature a dozen screens — including two that are 70-feet-wide — off U.S. Highway 441 between the Target and Wal-Mart stores, said Frank DeMarsh, president of the DeLand-based theater chain. It will include a bar that will serve beer and wine in the lobby, along with the usual cinema fare of popcorn, candy and soft drinks.
“This is very exciting for the people of Mount Dora,” Mayor Nick Girone said Wednesday. “I’m looking forward to it opening. … I get calls almost every day from people asking me when it’s going to open.”
Movie buffs will appreciate the leather, electronically-controlled recliner seats with footrests, the wall-to-wall screens and digital sound, DeMarsh said.
No need to worry about missing the opening scenes of a film because you were standing in line. This new theater will have reserved seating with online ticketing.
In an age when many people today watch movies online with their large-screen TVs or home computers, a movie theater is still the best place to get the full experience of a film, DeMarsh said.
“The theatrical experience is still the first and the best,” he said. “We’re providing motion pictures in the way they were intended to be shown by the director. … Those other forms cannot provide a first-run product with the best sight and sound possible.”
This will be EPIC’s ninth theater and the second in Lake County, joining a 16-screen multiplex at Clermont Landing, at U.S. Highway 27 and Steve’s Road, which opened in 2009.
EPIC also owns theaters in Deltona, Palm Coast, St. Augustine and DeLand. EPIC plans to open its 10th theater in May in Titusville.
Residents in the Mount Dora-Eustis-Tavares area have anticipated a movie theater for years. The only other movie theaters nearby are in Leesburg, The Villages and Sanford. This part of Lake County hasn’t had a movie theater since Eustis Plaza Twin theater shut down in 1996.
EPIC also announced that the Mount Dora multiplex will become the new home of the Central Florida Film Festival, which was held in Ocoee last year. The festival will be Sept. 7-9.
As for the holdup in completing the project, DeMarsh said his company experienced delays in acquiring the 17-acre site and permits. Construction also took about a year.
Now that it’s almost showtime, Girone said he’s pleased the new multiplex is about to open. He added that a new movie theater at that spot should bring in new eateries for people wanting to grab a bite before or after catching a movie.
“For the economy, it will be great,” he said. “Kids will be able to take a date to the movies.”
mcomas@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5718