The much-awaited reopening of the Bernardsville Cinema is finally upon us! On October 27th, 2023, the theater reopened and began to show movies on November 3rd. Located at 5 Mine Brook Road in Bernardsville, New Jersey, the cinema had been closed since 2020 at the start of the Coronavirus pandemic. 

“I am so happy the Bernardsville cinema is reopening, it’s been a while since I have gone and it’s in a very convenient location,” said Anthony Flamenco Romero ‘26

The theater opened on October 27th with the first-ever International Bernardsville Film Festival. The Film Festival included movie screenings, of course, as well as parties and award ceremonies. The films consisted of shorts, documentaries, and feature films. 

The cinema itself has quite a rich history. It was first opened in 1910 after being constructed by Frank Allen, meaning before its closing in 2020, it was in use for over a century. When Allen unfortunately passed away, the cinema was left to his daughter, who greatly maintained the theater until she died in 1983. After that, the cinema was sold to Olcott Square and to this day they still own it. 

As for the interior of the cinema, it has been changed over the years. In 1913, the lone theater had 500 seats, which for the time was massive, and even in today’s world 500 seats is significantly bigger than the average theater. The average number of seats per movie theater in the current USA is 150, truly showing just how huge the original theater was. Then, at the beginning of the 1990s, it was turned into a triplex cinema, which is just a cinema that houses three theaters, rather than the previous amount which was just one. 

“Our local theater is very nice, we are lucky to have one so good here in Bernardsville!” shared Luis Mattos ‘26

With the Bernardsville cinema reopening, people in Bernardsville or in close proximity have a great theater awaiting them!