After four years of screening films at 45 S. French Broad Ave., Grail Moviehouse owners Davida Horwitz and Steve White have signed a six-month lease on a space at 17 Foundy St., just behind Wedge Brewing Co.’s Foundation location. They plan to turn the former Sugar Britches boutique space into a single screen theater with room for up to 49 people in socially distanced seating, plus have a concession stand.
The owners refer to the move as “stage one” of the theater’s planned return and are considering calling the site “Grail for Now.” Though located next to railroad tracks, they’ve thus far only noticed a low rumble but will be implementing sound-dampening measures. Gov. Roy Cooper’s extension of phase 2 by five weeks pushes the opening date to Friday, Sept. 11, at the earliest.
Horwitz and White ultimately hope to create a new four-screen theater and say it’s possible they’ll be able to achieve that goal in the Foundy complex. “We’re going to ride out in this space to see when things start to open back up before expanding and committing to a location,” they say.
In the interim, the Grail will continue to program digital rentals of new independent and art titles via its Sofa Cinema platform and will host a pop-up event (film tbd) with a portable screen at new neighbor plēb urban winery on Saturday, Sept. 5, to celebrate the latter’s second anniversary. grailmoviehouse.com
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