Charlotte's only independent movie theater is opening its fourth — and largest — auditorium this Thanksgiving Day, nearly doubling its footprint.
The new auditorium at the Independent Picture House will seat 145 people, said executive director Brad Ritter, and it's designed to be versatile. Staff can remove the first two rows of seating to create a stage.
"If we want to do something other than show movies, we'll have a nice big staging area where we can bring in live music acts or even dabble in theater or town halls," Ritter said.
The public will get their first look when the theater opens Thursday with screenings of "A Real Pain" (2024), "Conclave" (2024), and "Anora" (2024).
The expansion occupies space previously held by the Charlotte Art League, which remains in the building at 4237 Raleigh St., but in a smaller capacity.
Ritter said the cinema had fundraised about $715,000 against the expansion's anticipated cost of $795,000. He said the expansion includes an event space that will be ready to open in the coming weeks.
The Independent Picture House opened in June 2022 under the supervision of Ritter and Jay Morong. They previously worked together at the historic Manor Twin Theatre on Providence Road, which closed in 2020.
