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After years of “coming soon” announcements and renovation work at the former site of Century Theatres Blackhawk, the owners of a cinema chain that had been set to restore the theater have apparently pulled the plug on their plans as the plaza’s future remains uncertain.
The Blackhawk Plaza theater had been set to reopen under Apple Cinemas as part of the East Coast movie chain’s venture west, which kicked off with a location in San Francisco that has been open since last summer.
An Instagram account for the planned Blackhawk location posted first that “big things” were coming in 2024, provided construction updates in 2025 and announced a planned opening that summer.
Although that opening date was later postponed, Apple Cinemas had remained steadfast in their statements that the theater was nonetheless still coming, even amid a trademark lawsuit from Apple Inc. that coincided with the cinema chain’s westward expansion.
That optimistic tone finally changed over the past week though, with a “not opening now” announcement on the planned theater’s Instagram page on Jan. 30 as workers moved construction equipment and materials away from the theater.
“With the uncertainty surrounding the ownership structure of the Plaza, we are unable to move forward opening at this time,” Apple Cinemas representatives said. “We are monitoring the situation and have hope that at some point we can realize our goal of serving the Tri-Valley community.”
That situation is still evolving. A receivership hearing – also held on Jan. 30 – in Orange County Superior Court was set to outline next steps. An ex parte application from the owner, Andrew Stupin of Ramanujan Group LLC, was denied by a judge Tuesday morning.
The hearing comes in the wake of bankruptcy proceedings by Stupin, with one of his lenders, Nano Banc, alleging that he has defaulted on a $5 million loan and that it is entitled to the Blackhawk Plaza property to recoup losses via a sale or rental revenue.
A judge was set to hear a demurrer on a cross complaint from Stupin and hold a case management conference on Feb. 6.
