Movie theater chain says it's moving to Swansea. What we know

Movie theater chain says it's moving to Swansea. What we know

It appears the show will finally go on.

Local movie theater chain Entertainment Luxury Cinemas announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday, July 14, that it is coming to the Swansea Crossing plaza at 207 Swansea Mall Drive.

The plaza is the site of a Regal Cinemas 12-screen cineplex that closed in late 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company's Facebook post does not include an opening date. It indicates the company is hiring for theater staff, a concession team, cleaners, managers and other positions.

Entertainment Luxury Cinemas is a local chain, with locations in Hyannis, Falmouth, South Dennis, Leominster, Sturbridge, Lebanon, New Hampshire, and South Portland, Maine.

Company owner Bill Hanney did not yet respond to a request for more information.

Why did the Swansea Regal theater close?

The Swansea theater was one of 536 Regal theater locations in the U.S. to close abruptly in October 2020 as the COVID pandemic wreaked havoc on businesses dependent on social gathering.

That was compounded by the postponement of the big-budget James Bond film “No Time to Die,” which had been expected to draw crowds to theaters; that film was delayed to October the next year.

The theater location has remained vacant and up for lease ever since.

The plaza is owned by Gator Swansea Properties LLC; the theater is the building's largest space for lease at 40,000 square feet.

Seekonk’s Showcase Cinemas movie theater on Route 6 closed in 2025, and has since been demolished to make way for a Market Basket grocery store.

The absence of those theaters has left Picture Show in Fall River and the Dartmouth Mall’s AMC theater the only multiplex options for moviegoers in the SouthCoast.