Crenshaw
It’s a bittersweet end of an era for Franklin moviegoers.
Sunday will mark the final movie showings at Canary Creek Cinemas. For the last 24 years, the theater has offered hundreds, if not thousands of showings of popular films.
As the Daily Journal’s Waylon O’Donnell reported on Dec. 21, the theater is closing due to circumstances outside of staff members’ control. There were once eight screens going at one time there, but now it’s only a few.
Soon it will be none.
Fewer screens led to fewer movies to watch. The theater has also only been open part of the week, compared to before when it was open seven days a week. This likely led to less attendance.
So, when Canary Creek posted on Facebook they would be closing at the end of the year, said they had seen the writing on the wall for a long time. Others expressed shock.
In a matter of hours, the post was shared hundreds of times. News of the theater’s impending closure has left many Franklin natives and residents sad and nostalgic — myself included. I have fond memories of going to Canary Creek as a kid and all the way through high school.
I’m 25 years old. I never thought I’d somehow end up outlasting the theater.
Growing up, I remember eagerly awaiting summer because it meant one thing — free movies at Canary Creek Cinemas. Each summer, the theater used to hold a free showing of kids’ movies on Wednesday mornings.
This is how I ended up watching “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.”
On a related note, the Daily Journal used to sponsor some of the free summer movies back then. This was obviously before my time though.
As I got older, Canary Creek was where I got to experience some of the biggest movies of the first half of the early 2010s.
I watched “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” both parts 1 and 2 at Canary Creek. Then came “The Hunger Games.” I watched the entire series — excluding the 2023 prequel — at Canary Creek. I vividly remember walking through the snow as a middle school student with a friend on our way to watch “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” at the theater.
There were other movies too that I saw with friends, including at the drive-in, but if I listed them all we’d be here all day.
When I went off to college, I did not go to the theater but I knew it was still here. Driving past the theater after graduating in 2021, you could tell the vibes were different. It was not the same.
With the rise of streaming services, I suppose one isn’t surprised to see less attendance at a movie theater or to see its quality go down. Still, Canary Creek’s downturn was unexpectedly fast.
Although we are losing Canary Creek, I am comforted that we still have the Historic Artcraft Theatre in Franklin, plus other movie theaters in Greenwood and on the southside. But knowing that what was once a popular amenity will now be no more leaves you with a bit of sentimentality.
I don’t know what will become of Canary Creek. Some on social media hope it could eventually be sold and perhaps reopened under new ownership, others suggested it be converted into an entirely new type of business.
As for myself? I just hope the legacy of the theater continues to live on in some shape or form.
Thanks for the memories and good times Canary Creek. After all, that’s all many of us really have left to remember it now.
Noah Crenshaw is the news editor for the Daily Journal and a Franklin native. Send comments to [email protected].
