Photo by Tim Stephens.
A sign on the front door of the former AMC Lee Branch 15 theater tells of the theater's closure in March 2025 after 21 years of operation. Onelife Fitness will take over the 68,000-square foot property.
Over the Fourth of July weekend in 2004, the AMC Lee Branch 15 opened. Then a Rave Motion Pictures theater, it opened with Spider-Man 2 showing every 15 minutes. The theater advertised that Spider-Man would rappel down the building.
On a dreary March day 20 years later, the location had closed with a whimper and no superheroes to save it.
For many residents, the theater was more than just a place to watch the latest blockbusters; it was a source of first jobs, family outings and summer tradition. The closure left many in the community feeling hollow from its departure and finding few alternatives to replace it.
“I was sad about that just for nostalgia purposes,” said Jeremy Polk, a Chelsea resident who worked at Lee Branch as a teenager when the theater first opened. “It was my first job-job, so to see it go and to see a major staple on 280 disappear — that hurt. So many memories there.”
The closure was part of what the company described as a routine evaluation of its circuit.
“AMC routinely reviews the theatres in our circuit, as well as opportunities outside of our circuit, and makes decisions based on what will best strengthen the company going forward,” the company said in a written statement. “We thank our Lee Branch 15 guests for their patronage and encourage them to continue enjoying the AMC experience at AMC Summit 16, AMC DINE-IN Vestavia Hills 10 and Patton Creek 15.”
But for moviegoers like Polk, the shift is more than just an address change.
“We go to the Summit now,” he said. “But it’s completely off. It used to take us about 10 minutes to get to Lee Branch. Now it takes 30 to 45 minutes (to the Summit), even up to an hour depending on traffic.”
Photo by Tim Stephens.
The former AMC Lee Branch 15, located at 801 Doug Baker Blvd., is being converted into a Onelife Fitness center. The 68,000-square-foot facility closed in March 2025 after 21 years of showing movies for residents of the U.S. 280 corridor.
While the Summit is six miles away from the old Lee Branch location, the AMC in Vestavia Hills and the AMC at Patton Creek are 10 miles and 12 miles away, respectively.
The departure of the theater has also had an effect on neighboring businesses. East 59 Cafe, which sits just across the parking lot from the now-shuttered cinema, has already felt the economic drag.
“We actually have had a decrease in sales for our nighttime cafe,” said owner Amber Tolbert. “We used to rely on the movie theater business during the summer. More people going to see movies meant more evening traffic. That’s gone now.”
In response, East 59 has reduced its summer hours and now closes at 3 p.m. daily. While Tolbert said overall sales have held steady thanks to a growing catering business, the loss of evening patrons has left a noticeable gap.
She’s also watching cautiously as the former theater space undergoes renovations to become a Onelife Fitness location.
“We have no idea what to expect with the gym,” Tolbert said. “Something we’re not looking forward to is all the construction going on. We’re hoping that doesn’t really affect us as much as it could.”
The Lee Branch location had been a fixture for nearly two decades and was one of the few multiplexes serving a booming suburban corridor. Its closure reflects broader national trends. Box office revenues totaled $8.75 billion in 2024 — down about 23 percent from the industry’s pre-pandemic high of nearly $11 billion in 2019. Theater visits per capita have dropped dramatically as well, from nearly four trips per year per person in the 2010s to fewer than two now, according to The Numbers, a website that tracks industry trends.
Tom Leitch, former director of film studies at the University of Delaware, offered a stark assessment: “The simplest answer I can give is a really depressing one. I would not want to be a theater owner this year.”
Leitch points to changing consumer preferences and fractured media consumption: streaming, mobile viewing and convenience overshadowing spectacle.
“Young people prize spectacularness,” Leitch said, “but what they prize more is their own convenience. When they watch movies on their phone, they can watch in glibs and globs, they can watch while doing something else.”
He also noted the disappearance of mid-budget “middle” films — movies that aren’t blockbusters or microbudget indies, but once thrived in theaters.
“There aren’t as many movies like that around as there used to be,” he said. “Middle means something different now than it did 10 or 15 years ago.”
Created by Datawrapper
The closest movie theaters to the former AMC Lee Branch theater.
Despite the headwinds, not all industry voices are pessimistic. Jeff Geiger, president and CEO of NCG Cinemas, which operates theaters across the Southeast, said his company is not only surviving but expanding.
“It’s all about the experience,” Geiger said. “If you can deliver an elevated experience — luxury seating, quality sound and projection, elevated concessions — people will come.”
Since COVID, NCG has opened four new theaters, including in locations where other operators had pulled out. In Snellville, Georgia, the company recently completed a full renovation of a former AMC location. “In that theater where we opened the IMAX, we’ve seen a 70% increase in attendance year-to-date from last year,” Geiger said.
He attributes the success to offering what at-home streaming can’t — immersive, social and family-centered experiences, and believes the industry will once again break the $11 billion mark this year.
“People are still loving coming to the movies,” he said. “Even young generations… we’re seeing them embrace theaters again.”
For now, there’s no word on whether a new theater will open to replace the void left by AMC Lee Branch, but in an area that is already difficult to travel, residents may certainly feel the need for a replacement.
Would Geiger consider opening a theater in Alabama?
“Well, I’m always searching for the next opportunity, so I’m sure I’ll be taking a peek.”
