Miller invests in more theaters

National movie theater chains have been lining up at the bankruptcy courts recently, but Utah businessman Larry H. Miller says the past 15 months of running 17 theaters at his Jordan Commons complex in Sandy has convinced him he can do the same thing in downtown Salt Lake City.

Miller, owner of the Utah Jazz and an array of auto dealerships, confirmed Friday that he has signed an agreement with Utah developer The Boyer Co. to operate 12 movie screens at the Gateway redevelopment project near the Delta Center, another Miller property.

The deal calls for Miller to invest between $5 million and $10 million — "but closer to $5 million," he said — on finishing and outfitting the theaters, which he will then operate and provide films through a Hawaii-based film broker that supplies the films to Jordan Commons.

If the county decides not to go through with moving Hansen Planetarium to Gateway, Miller said he also will operate a 70 mm, large-format theater (similar to the SuperScreen brand of theaters) that Boyer had intended to be part of its "Explorium" at the project.

"We're moving very quickly on this," Miller said. "We will begin work May 1, and we're shooting for a Halloween opening. So we have to hurry."

Boyer has said the Gateway will open in November.

The steel framework for the theater complex is already well underway. Boyer had worked with several different theater chains, but the chains kept backing out as they entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. That's when Miller stepped in.

"Larry's confident that he understands the (theater) business," said Boyer partner Kem Gardner. "There wouldn't be a Gateway without Larry Miller building the Delta Center and bringing vitality to the area."

Gardner said that with 74,000 square feet of space dedicated to the theater complex, it will be Gateway's largest anchor tenant.

As for the "Explorium," Gardner said it's nice that Miller would be willing to step in and operate the large-format theater,

but Gardner hasn't given up hope that the planetarium, Children's Museum and large-format theater can still be packaged together.

"We can always rent out the planetarium and IMAX space to retail, but we want a cultural component at the Gateway, and we're ready to spend a lot of money to get it."

The original plans called for 13 screens at the complex, but Miller said his experience at Jordan Commons has convinced him that larger theaters, with as many as 600 seats, create "energy and fun" that enhances the movie-going experience. Thus, the number of screens was reduced by one to make room for a 600-seat theater.

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E-mail: max@desnews.com