A  lot of things in Wilmington have changed since the city’s first movie theater began a century ago.

In 1906, the operators of The Bijou started showing films in a tent at 225 North Front St., closing the doors on their subsequent building for good in 1956, according to local historian Beverly Tetterton’s book, Wilmington: Lost But Not Forgotten.

In the decades since The Bijou’s beginnings, some local theaters have come and gone. But what will be Wilmington’s newest theater, a Stone Theatres project underway in midtown, has turned into more than a coming attraction in recent months.

Paying more than $1.2 million, Stone Theatres on Feb. 22 purchased land near the corner of South 17th Street and Independence Boulevard for its new 14-screen facility, according to the deed recorded in New Hanover County. The Pointe 14, a 54,500-square-foot theater with 2,822 seats, will be the anchor for The Pointe at Barclay, a commercial project planned by Cameron Management and Charlotte-based firm Collett on what was previously undeveloped land.

Currently, Wilmington has two large theaters that show widely distributed films – Regal Mayfaire Stadium 16, the multiplex at Mayfaire Town Center off Military Cutoff Road, and Carmike 16 at 111 Cinema Drive. 

A four-screen Carmike theater in Carolina Beach closed in 2010. 

And an Oleander Drive property where a former Carmike theater building still stands was placed under contract by an unnamed developer last year. The 5335 Oleander Drive Carmike closed in 2006. An entity associated with the University of North Carolina Wilmington had purchased the property from Carmike Cinemas Inc. in December 2005 for $2.5 million, according to county tax records, and the school used the property for parking for a while before an on-campus parking deck was built several years later.

A movie theater acquisition with global ramifications hit the news March 3, when AMC Entertainment Holdings announced that it would acquire Carmike Cinemas Inc. in a transaction valued at about $1.1 billion. The New York Times called the deal “a significant consolidation of movie theater holdings,” and various news sources said the move would also make a Chinese-owned company the largest movie-theater operator in the U.S.

Headquartered in Charlotte, Stone Theatres currently operates four locations with 56 screens in North Carolina and South Carolina and is building another in Indian Land, South Carolina, about 30 minutes south of Charlotte.

“We’re just a regional circuit, and we have no desire to be anything more than a nice, solid regional circuit,” said Marie Cole, director of marketing for Stone Theatres and Arc Brand Marketing. “We want to keep things small so we can respond to customers easily in each market and adapt … We consider our family of theaters just that, family.”

While the movie theater market continues to experience some changes, Stone Theatres officials predict success for The Pointe 14.

“Our industry has changed over the years, for sure, and you can go back to when television first came out – everyone over the years predicted doom and gloom. However, we really feel that it’s just not the same experience,” said Dale Coleman, vice president of Stone Theatres. “And as long as we provide a very modern, clean, state-of-the-art complex with all the latest and greatest in technology, presentation, sound, seating, those types of things … it still has been a very viable industry … and we’re very bullish that it will continue to be into the future.”

When considering where to build, Coleman said Stone Theatres looks for locations where growing populations don’t have immediate access to theaters.

“We feel like that part of Wilmington has been underserved,” he said. “The folks on that side of town deserve a new, state-of-the-art movie complex, and that was very attractive to us.”

The other portions planned for The Pointe at Barclay, a mixed-use development, were also a factor, he said.

“Those types of developments are certainly the most appealing to use,” Coleman said.

Stone Theatres looks for new developments or existing developments where moviegoers can also find restaurants and other shopping and entertainment options, Coleman said.

“We really look to be in a situation where there’s a lot of good synergy for families and couples to enjoy a night out on the town,” he said.

Restaurant spaces in two buildings, one with about 9,600 square feet and the other with just under 9,300 square feet, in front of the new theater are part of the plan for The Pointe at Barclay. 

In an announcement this month, Circa Restaurant Group revealed that it plans to open one of its newest restaurants, Il Forno Pizzeria, in The Pointe at Barclay later this year.

The new restaurant will occupy 3,000 square feet of restaurant space available in one of the two buildings. Sizes of remaining units are flexible, according to marketing materials.

“Leasing activity has been tremendous,” Hill Rogers, broker in charge for Cameron Management, said recently. Rogers has also said the company could be revealing the names of additional tenants soon.

The Pointe at Barclay is part of a 600-acre master planned development in midtown.

When it operated formerly as Consolidated Theatres, the Stone Theatres team also built Regal Mayfaire Stadium 16. The new Stone Theatres multiplex in midtown has a similar design and layout to the Mayfaire theater, Cole said. In 2008, Consolidated Theatres was sold to Regal. 

The Pointe 14 will be similar in other ways to other properties Stone Theatres has built with a few exceptions, Cole said. They include upgraded, wider seats with more cushion and a plush feel, she said, and the introduction of the Dolby Atmos sound system.

Coleman said his company hopes to open The Pointe 14 before the end of the year.

Stephanie Lanier, co-founder of residential real estate agency Lanier Property Group whose office is located in midtown, said recently that she expects the theater “to have a huge impact” on the area.

In terms of residential real estate, the new development is a selling point, Lanier said.

“We are telling buyers,” she said, “that we believe The Pointe at Barclay will have a similar effect on property values that Mayfaire had once it was completed.”