A Recap + Palm Beach’s Strangest Flex

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Hmm: We made a bold choice to bring the Color of the year into our work 🤍

When was the last time you went to the movies in Palm Beach? I’ll wager it’s been a while. 

With all that Palm Beach and sister-city West Palm Beach have to offer — the rare Vuitton Home Collection! Adaptogenic elixirs! Even President Kennedy’s yacht! — it seems that the humble luxury of a night at the cinema has fallen by the wayside.

With all that Palm Beach and sister-city West Palm Beach have to offer — the rare Vuitton Home Collection! Adaptogenic elixirs! Even President Kennedy’s yacht! — it seems that the humble luxury of a night at the cinema has fallen by the wayside.

Why? Is this a strange flex or just an unfortunate omission? It’s no secret that direct-to-streaming releases and massive TVs have obviated the need to leave the house to participate in the cinematic zeitgeist. The pandemic only made that worse. US box office grosses were down 25 per cent from 2019 to 2024; in October, theaters in the US and Canada had the lowest ticket sales on record.

But that’s not unique to Palm Beach. 

It could be that many have their own cinematic experience at home, replete with overflowing popcorn, piles of candy and the luxury of pausing at will. The area’s historically seasonal patronage is also at odds with the needs of a year-round business. But that’s not unique to Palm Beach either. The Hamptons caters to the occasional cinephile. So does Martha’s Vineyard and Aspen. Plus, more people are moving here full-time.

It wasn’t always like this. The last local movie theater closed in 2023, when development company Related Ross swapped out the AMC West Palm Beach 12 at The Square for office buildings as part of the company’s wider makeover of West Palm’s CityPlace. (Ross says he gets asked a lot about when he’s bringing back a movie house, but he’s found that there aren’t many new venues lining up to rise out of the ashes these days.)

On the island, the historic Paramount Theater on North County Road opened in 1927, fittingly designed in a Mediterranean revival style. The landmarked building closed as a cinema in 1980, and has since experienced iterations as offices and a church. (Mercifully, the lobby’s historic Hollywood photo exhibit remained intact, for at least a while). Most recently, the site was acquired by WEG Paramount LLC to build an event space, stores, offices and, in the theater, a private club. That project has been strained due to concerns including traffic and lack of public access.

This leaves major opportunity for a local movie destination. I see two intriguing options: A nostalgic, blast-from-the-past approach on the island, or a forward-looking “experiential” destination in West Palm Beach. 

Perhaps a historic venue like the Paramount — unless there is another sleeping cinematic beauty? — can bring us a romanticized approach to old Hollywood. Picture an intimate, sumptuous theater with velvet curtains, reclaimed sconces and truffle-butter popcorn — plus a stage that adapts to the occasional fireside chat or exclusive live performance.

The other direction would be Hollywood’s latest approach to coaxing people off the couch: immersive screens and special effects that borrow from spaces like The Sphere in Las Vegas, combined with luxury touches like leather seats and cocktail menus. Cinemark, for example, is in the process of opening 18 panoramic, 270-degree ScreenX theaters in the US, and has yet to announce the locations. And if that’s a stretch, something as charming as an Alamo Drafthouse would fit right in among Eataly, Equinox and Alo.

For now, there are a few options. The non-profit Society of the Four Arts offers high-brow fare in its elegant auditorium, including a curated Friday film series, screenings of performances from the Metropolitan Opera and National Theatre Live and art documentaries from the Exhibition on Screen series. Popcorn is not, unfortunately, on the menu.

Others require a bit of a hike: The Movies of Lake Worth is a 50-year-old independent cinema that mixes it up with both new releases and more inventive fare (foreign and independent films, film festivals and live events), at roughly 30 minutes away. Lake Worth is seeing another promising development: The art deco beauty that is Lake Theater, which opened in 1940 and began a series of repurposed uses starting in 1974, will reopened for the Theatre Revival Series, hosted by the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County (about 20 minutes away). 

Then there’s Delray Beach’s luxurious IPic theater, whose private “pods” include a full dinner menu and chair-side service; the 35-minute drive makes this a heftier commitment. And 20 minutes away in the other direction, the CMX Cinemas Downtown at the Gardens 16 & IMAX offers a classic blockbuster and concessions experience. 

Then again, just save a little popcorn for me at your at-home theater. I know you have the space. - Maghan