Sonora takeover of Elvis Cinemas’ Arvada space revives Colorado bilingual movie culture

The decor can’t help but grab attention: golden-hued, sun-patterned doors; curving glass-block walls; and gleaming metallic finishes along a hallway that recalls the launch tunnel from Disneyland’s “Space Mountain” ride.

But the core of Sonora Cinemas, the bilingual exhibitor that will officially reopen in the former Elvis Cinemas space at 5157 W. 64th Ave. in Arvada on May 30, is not what’s visible.

“It’s not just about the language, it’s about the culture,” said Louis Sullivan Olmos, film buyer and general manager for Sonora Cinemas Colorado. “And by that we mean not just serving our community, but bringing that open, family feeling and level of comfort to Spanish speakers.”

Sonora, formerly known as Cinema Latino, is the only Colorado exhibitor dedicated to showing first-run films in both Spanish and English, with a 50/50 balance, owners said. That includes Spanish overdubs of blockbusters such as “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” but also English-language versions with Spanish subtitles. There’s nothing like it outside of the occasional art-house title or film festival.

Bilingual employees can switch between Spanish or English, depending on customer preference. It allows grandmothers who may only speak Spanish to see movies with their grandchildren, who may be English-dominant. The adaptable format welcomes everyone by meeting them where they are, Olmos said.

Renovations to the former Elvis theater cost about $500,000 but could have been closer to $1 million if they’d needed to purchase all-new equipment for the eight-screen space. Family and friends pitched in to cram three month’s-worth of renovations into a four-week sprint.

“We skipped (removing) the concession stand just to get it open, but we’ll eventually be changing it to be more efficient,” owner Roberto Sanchez said of the hulking, circular island that sells both American and Mexican candies and refreshments.

Sonora Cinemas soft-opened in late April after getting a top-to-bottom cleaning, fully-automated digital projection system, and an overall mechanical retrofit. It feels newly crisp with lighter colors of paint and thousands of square feet of steam-cleaned carpet. Fully updated seating, 3-D capabilities and more are on tap.

As with so much else in the movie business, the story of Sonora Cinemas was one of “hurry up and wait.” Instead of sitting in a trailer like a movie star, waiting for the director to call them back to set, the owners endured a global health pandemic. There was no reason to believe they would rise again, having closed their Aurora-based theater in March 2020 after two decades of serving Colorado’s most diverse city.

Fortunately, Sanchez hung on to Cinema Latino’s pricey equipment while talking with the owners of the business plaza where Arvada’s Elvis Cinemas was located — a high-traffic area on the northeast corner of West 64th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard. That came in handy when, in March, he suddenly learned that Elvis Cinemas would be leaving its Arvada space as part of an overall shutdown for the local chain.

It was Sonora’s hurried call back to the movie set, with a deal being signed and renovations kicking off immediately. It helped that Sonora’s former space in Aurora was built by the same company at the same time in the 1980s, with similar finishes and layout. (The builder was Silver Cinemas, the Texas company that for years also owned Landmark Theatres and its historic Mayan, Chez Artiste and Esquire movie houses).

“The challenge is, can we provide another 15 to 20 years of use for the building?” said Olmos, who signed a one-year lease on the space that he hopes to renew for even longer. “They don’t have to be knocked down and backfilled, like our old Aurora location has been.”

“The best thing is seeing customers who have stayed loyal through our (hiatus),” Sanchez said of the last two weekends of testing before Sonora’s May 30 grand opening. “It’s great to talk to someone and hear, ‘I haven’t seen a movie in a theater in three years. I was waiting for you guys to come back.’ ”

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