Lebowski festivals aren’t just for Arlington anymore.
The second-run theater, cult-film source and live comedy haunt, Arlington Cinema ’N’ Drafthouse announced this week it will open a second location in Wheaton this summer.
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The new location, called the Montgomery Cinema ’N’ Drafthouse, will be a six-theater complex in the Westfield shopping center, the current home of a P&G-operated theater. But unlike its sister location, this branch will offer first-run films as part of its repertoire.
According to its owner, Greg Godbout, who took over the Drafthouse about 2 1/2 years ago, the place has seen a jump in business over the past year or so, particularly when it started holding live events such as comedy shows and advance screenings of new flicks.
“We saw all this incredible growth, but we were like, ‘God, we’d love to do first run,’” Godbout said.
They’ll now have their chance — Godbout said between three and five screens will be devoted to first-run movies, a mix of independent and mainstream films. The rest will be devoted to special events, second-run movies and Drafthouse favorites.
Godbout said he’s hoping to bring new independent films to D.C., and says filmmakers will be enticed because the Drafthouse will pay to market the films, unlike major movie houses. He doesn’t think, though, that the Drafthouse will compete directly with the nearby AFI Silver, which shows largely independent fare. AFI did not return calls for comment.
“At the end of the day, our model is so different from the way any other theater is run that I think we can be very successful and not cut into their business too much,” he said.
Godbout said he hopes the Wheaton theater will be the start of a regional expansion with three to four locations in the D.C. area. The Wheaton theater is expected to open in July.
The Arlington Drafthouse recently got an upgrade of its own, with a new restaurant — Old Arlington Grille — opening in January. The Washington Psychotronic Film Society, which used to screen at the recently closed Dr. Dremo’s in Arlington, begins showing its films there this week.
“I think it’s a good partnership,” said Carl Cephas, the society’s president. “We’re doing almost the same kind of thing, though we do more underground, cult-type stuff.”
