Screenland Armour in North KC installed a rare film projector: What to know

Screenland Armour Theatre owner Adam Roberts has spent at least $120,000 on bringing a dual film projector that can show movies shot on 35mm and 70mm film inside his theater. The investment has drawn big crowds for the showings, and more movies in the film formats are on the way.

FULL STORY: A ‘new old’ offering: Why KC’s Screenland brought back a film projector

Here are key takeaways:

• Roberts announced the plan on social media in August, funded partly by a $100,000 loan that month. Crowdfunding and delays with installation pushed back the timeline.

• Around 30 movie theaters in the world can run 35mm or 70mm prints, including AMC Town Center in Leawood. The raw materials for this type of projection are hard to find.

• The first 70mm film Screeland hosted was Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” at the end of February. It almost sold out every day of its seven-day run in the 200-seat theater.

• Five daily 70mm showings of Ryan Coogler’s Oscar-winning “Sinners” were planned starting Friday, March 27, through Wednesday, April 1.

• Roberts said his Gen Z staff told him 2026 is the “analog year,” with people leaving social media and collecting physical media like CDs and vinyl records. He also noticed customers shifting away from movies franchises and toward unique stories from smaller distributors.

• Film projection requires staff to inspect, lift and manually switch out reels, meaning they’ll have to stay in the control room for the entire movie. Roberts now has to train employees on technology they’ve never handled before.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The full story in the link at top was reported, written and edited entirely by journalists.