A Theater Coming To Near You Soon In Mount Kisco

MOUNT KISCO, NY — It has been more than two and a half years since the last picture show in Mount Kisco.

Rumors swirled about the theater "opening soon" starting last spring, but there have been delays.

This time feels different.

That paper that was covering the freshly cleaned windows has been removed. Soon to be released "coming attractions" movie posters are snapped into frames on the brick walls of the 60-year-old movie house and the snack bar is fully stocked with Milk Duds, Twizzlers and Starburst.

It looks like local residents will be able to watch movies in Mount Kisco again, very soon. The former Mt. Kisco Theatre, which was closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, is now known as AB Cinemas, as displayed in the front window.

On Thursday afternoon, in a social media post, Mayor Gina Picinich wrote, "Mount Kisco peeps, just met Jimmy the owner of AB Cinema. They are planning on a soft opening this weekend. Welcome AB Cinema to #thebiglittlevillage."

However, on Friday afternoon, the mayor wrote "Ran into technical difficulties. Opening delayed. Will share more information when available." She advised movie fans to regularly check the theater's website for more information.

The Mt. Kisco Theatre first opened on December 21, 1962 with Hayley Mills in the film, "In Search of the Castaways." The theater was a replacement for the town's other movie theater that had burned down. It was later twinned and further divided into five screens. The venue was operated for years by Lesser Theaters, then purchased by Clearview Cinemas. In June of 2013, it was taken over by Bow-Tie Cinemas until March of 2020, when it was forced to close due to the pandemic.

In September of 2020, it was announced that the closure would be permanent.

According to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, on October 21, 2021, AB International Group Corp. entered into a 5-year agreement with Martabano Realty Corp., to lease about 8,375 square feet of the space that used to be known as the Mt. Kisco Theatre, at 144 Main Street. AB International is an intellectual property (IP) and movie investment and licensing firm, focused on acquisitions and development of various intellectual property. The Mount Kisco theater is the first in a new business line AB International is launching in the U.S.

The company said in June that its theater acquisition strategy, under the newly formed subsidiary, "AB Cinemas NY, Inc." will continue to negotiate potential acquisitions of four locations with a total of 30 screens.

In August of this year, AB International announced the hiring of Ike Rivera as the company's Cinemas Business General Manager. He was previously VP of Operations at Bow Tie Cinemas. Rivera is currently based in the Mount Kisco AB Cinemas office, where his initial focus has been reopening the Mt. Kisco Theatre. He reports directly to Chiyuan Deng, AB International's CEO and President.

"As an avid moviegoer, I'm thrilled to join ABQQ at this transformative time for the industry," Rivera said. "I'm looking forward to helping Chiyuan and the ABQQ team lead the operations and set strategic direction, identify growth opportunities that will extend ABQQ cinemas development. ABQQ has a focus on the long-term cinemas business and I'm excited to continue growing that business through strategic partnerships and alliances that will add value for all stakeholders and audiences."

But what really matters is that we will soon be able to enjoy an oversized soda and popcorn with extra butter while we enjoy the latest blockbuster action movie just steps from the Chief Kisco statue.