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Falls Church is set to gain a major new entertainment destination May 1 when Paragon Theater opens a two-story, seven-screen cinema at Founders Row.
The theater will feature more than 600 seats, a full bar and restaurant menu, luxury dine-in seating, and a 65-foot-wide premium screen equipped with 4K laser projection and Dolby Atmos sound. Its opening is timed with the release of Marvel’s “Thunderbolts,” helping launch the summer blockbuster season.
Paragon Theaters is a small Florida-based chain entering the Washington area for the first time. With the Falls Church location, it will operate five theaters: four in Florida, one in Cary, North Carolina, and the new Founders Row cinema. The company previously operated in Fredericksburg.
Unlike Paragon’s earlier projects involving renovated theaters, the Founders Row location was designed and built from the ground up after plans involving another theater operator fell through.
Paragon marketing and public relations vice president Jared Comess said the target opening follows several years of work. Plans for opening week include a friends-and-family gathering, ribbon-cutting ceremony, grand-opening celebration and a charitable event that had not yet been finalized.
A Two-Story Theater With a 65-Foot Screen
The cinema is tucked beneath the Modera residential development, but no residents live directly above it, allowing the theater to extend upward across two floors.
A bar and seating area on the first floor will offer drinks and a full menu centered on American food with local influences. Guests will also be able to buy tickets and concessions downstairs before taking an escalator to the second floor. Concession orders can be collected upstairs.
The centerpiece will be Paragon’s Axis 15 Extreme auditorium, which has more than 200 seats and a screen wider than 65 feet. It will use 4K laser projection and the theater’s most extensive Dolby Atmos surround-sound system.
Every auditorium will have reclining seats. To reduce strain for viewers leaning back, Paragon has tilted its screens forward by 15 degrees.
Each auditorium will also include Lux Box seating, an upgraded section offering food and drink delivery throughout the movie. Guests can scan a QR code at their table and order from the restaurant, concession and bar menus using a mobile phone. Available items will include meals, popcorn, candy, alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks, and Icees.
Blockbusters, Film Series and Accessible Screenings
First-run studio releases will make up most of the theater’s schedule, but Paragon also plans repertory screenings, themed programs and less conventional offerings. An Asian film festival was being organized ahead of the opening.
The company’s sensory-friendly Saturday screenings will keep the lights on and sound levels lower while allowing audience members to move around as needed. Tickets for those showings will cost $5, and Paragon said it works with charities and organizations serving people with special needs.
Other planned programming includes curated retrospectives devoted to performers such as Elizabeth Taylor or Katharine Hepburn, seasonal holiday movies and free summer screenings for children. Those summer programs typically feature a relatively recent family movie at 10 a.m. on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.
Paragon also intends to offer discounts for seniors, members of the military and government employees. Its planned $5 Ticket Tuesdays will apply to first-run movies at any showtime.
The company’s Diamond Rewards program awards points for ticket and concession purchases, with 20 points earning a free ticket. Members receive a birthday ticket, and the program offers double points on Wednesdays. After a member’s first theater transaction, the advertised benefits include a movie ticket, popcorn and five starter points.
Theater Plans to Hire Up to 60 Workers
Paragon expects to hire between 40 and 60 people for full-time, part-time and seasonal positions as it prepares for a busy summer opening.
Luis Fernandez has been hired as general manager. Open roles include runners, concession workers, guest-service attendants, kitchen employees, bartenders and managers overseeing guest services, operations and the kitchen.
Applicants must be at least 16. Paragon said employee benefits will include training, career-development opportunities, free movies and discounted food and drinks. Pay rates had not yet been set, but the company said it intended to offer competitive wages.
Beyond hiring locally, Paragon plans to work with school clubs, sports teams and civic organizations through sponsorships, fundraisers, promotions and movie-and-dinner packages.
Paragon Theater will open May 1 at 112 Founders Ave. in Falls Church.