Bart Blatstein’s Riverview Plaza movie theater is getting an IMAX screen
The 17-screen theater is expected to reopen in 2026, but could reopen by year’s end, says the developer.
Bart Blatstein’s plan to revive South Philadelphia’s Riverview Plaza movie theater just got a big boost from IMAX Corp.
In a Thursday news release, IMAX announced that it was partnering with midsize Massachusetts-based Apple Cinemas — the company that would operate the theater Blatstein is developing — to open five new IMAX theaters across the United States.
The Riverview location was given most prominent billing in the release and is slated to open in 2026. Blatstein said there is a possibility the 17-screen theater could reopen by year’s end.
“We are starting construction in earnest shortly, and they want to be in there as quickly as possible,” Blatstein said. “Can they be in by Christmas? Maybe. Or the first quarter of next year.”
Apple Cinemas upgraded its theater in White Plains, N.Y., with IMAX last year. In addition to South Philadelphia, the theaters announced Thursday are in Maine, New Hampshire, San Francisco, and an unnamed location.
“Our expanded partnership with IMAX marks a bold leap forward in delivering next generation moviegoing,” Siva Shan, cofounder of Apple Cinemas, said in the news release. “White Plains set a new standard for immersive cinema, and with our marquee launch at Riverview Plaza in Philadelphia, we’re raising it even higher.”
The Riverview and the Franklin Institute’s IMAX theater, the only one in city limits, closed in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and never reopened.
Since then Philadelphia has been without an IMAX theater, although there are a variety of options in the suburbs, including near the malls in King of Prussia, Cherry Hill, and Warrington Crossing.
“A number of our locations in suburban Philadelphia are among our best performing in the country, so we’re excited to return to the city itself in a prime location with a great partner in Apple Cinemas,” Rich Gelfond, CEO of IMAX, said in the news release.
The release from IMAX and Apple also says that the Riverview Plaza was urban Philadelphia’s “highest-grossing multiplex” and that when it reopens, it will be “the largest cinema in the Center City downtown area.” (Maybe they should have consulted with Blatstein about the geography.)
“There’s so many families now in South Philly and Center City, they need family entertainment,” Blatstein said. “I’m thrilled to partner with Apple Cinemas to revitalize one of the great theaters of our region.”
The developer opened the Riverview in 1991 but sold it to Cedar Realty Trust in 2001. The company’s ambitious pre-COVID plans for the property did not come to fruition, and Blatstein bought it back in 2022.
Although the movie theater business has struggled post-pandemic, IMAX’s fortunes have been soaring as audiences that do go to theaters seek bigger experiences.
The company reported its highest ever domestic box office in the second quarter of 2025.
“Filmmakers and studios want to release their best films in IMAX, consumers overwhelmingly prefer to see those films in IMAX, and as a result, theater operators want to be in the IMAX business,” Gelfond said in the company’s second quarter earnings call. “There simply has never been a better time to be in the IMAX business.”