Images Cinema will reopen on May 22 with a two-week screening series featuring several of the most acclaimed movies of the past year. “First Look” marks the end of a seven-month period of reduced programming due to renovations to add new sound systems, accessibility upgrades, and a second screen.
Images launched a fundraising campaign in February 2025 to finance the renovations. The campaign came, in part, due to the financial burden of pandemic-era closures. Images also hopes to reimagine what the cinema could be for the next generation of movies that have grown increasingly complicated in their technical demands, requiring upgraded sound and projection infrastructure.
The film series will include Sinners, Hamnet, and One Battle After Another, as well as animated features KPop Demon Hunters and Zootopia 2. KPop Demon Hunters will also be offered in select sing-along screenings, which is a first for the theater.
During the renovations, Images changed its focus from exclusively showing films to building a community hub. Under the leadership of Janet Curran ’02, former managing director, Images reinvigorated the Lounge as an event space hosting karaoke, special screenings, art classes, and a gallery featuring works from local artists.
After Curran’s position was terminated late last year due to budget limitations, Images faced criticism from some community members. Executive Director Dan Hudson has focused on continuing to bring people together by featuring a feel-good film lineup.
As part of the renovation process, Images’ public spaces and theaters are now fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), with new audiovisual systems that include Auracast Bluetooth technology, which allows hearing aids to connect directly to the audio stream.
The renovations have also allowed Images to establish a main theater with an upgraded sound and visual system. The main theater was equipped with a new spatial sound system and higher quality projectors. According to Hudson, the new sound system will make certain films feel like a new, immersive experience. “Hearing films like Sinners in Atmos is like seeing them for the first time,” he wrote in a press release.
Images has also spent several months developing a new visual identity for the theater. Hudson framed the redesign as an effort to improve the cinema’s brand. “We’ve created a unified branding system which will be seen not only in interior and exterior signage details, but will help people instantly recognize Images in our social media, newsletters, [and] posters,” Hudson wrote in an email to the Record.
According to Images’ Board Chair Steve Simon, community support has been crucial in making the renovations possible. “This support has been essential to reopening the theater in a renewed space that will be a place for film and community in this area far into the future,” he announced in the press release.
Tickets for each film in the First Look series will be free for members and $5 for non-members. Tickets will go on sale at noon on May 12 on Images’ website.
For Hudson, while this celebration marks the closing of a long-term project, for Images, this is also the start of a new phase. “In terms of a movie structure, this has all been act one, or maybe better put, the first movie in a trilogy,” he wrote in an email to the Record. “I can’t wait for this next chapter, when the community gets to benefit from all of our collective hard work.”
Beginning on June 5, Images will return to its regular lineup of indie movies and summer blockbusters, with more details to be announced in the coming weeks.
“The emphasis this summer, especially after reopening after this long and cold winter, is big fun,” Hudson wrote.
