NEW YORK – A small, independent cinema in Brooklyn is giving away free tickets to see Deadpool & Wolverine this weekend in an effort to support family-run cinemas across the country.
For the second time in a rowStuart Cinema & Cafe partners with PlutoTV to offer free screenings to the community.
Free screenings of “Deadpool & Wolverine” in Brooklyn
This weekend the new Marvel film “Deadpool & Wolverine” will be shown.
“They’ve gone to different cinemas, independent cinemas, and to support those cinemas, they’re taking over the cinemas for a whole weekend and offering free movie tickets to the community,” said cinema owner Emelyn Stuart.
“Deadpool & Wolverine” is rated R, so Stuart said the theater will host a scavenger hunt for neighborhood kids to give them a chance to win free tickets to another movie.
“This way the kids get something too, because we’re showing ‘Deadpool’ and the movie isn’t necessarily for young children, so we wanted to make sure they had something fun,” she said.
You can find more information about the free tickets for this weekend here.
PlutoTV is owned by Paramount, the parent company of CBS New York.
Owner of an independent theater in Brooklyn wants visitors to feel at home
The magic of cinema comes alive in the cinema. Stuart knows this only too well.
As a filmmaker, she decided to open her own cinema after experiencing first-hand the challenges independent producers have to overcome to bring their works to the big screen.
“I produced films and television shows independently for about 12 years and couldn’t find a theatrical release. So someone said, ‘If you really want to control what people see, you need to open your own theater,'” Stuart told Hannah Kliger of CBS News New York.
She said she was the first Afro-Latina to own a movie theater in New York City.
In anticipation of the free movie weekend, the smell of buttered popcorn and empanadas filled the air Friday. Stuart said her mother makes them every day and they are a favorite with fans.
“The goal was never to be like an AMC or a Regal. The goal was to be a place that felt like home. And I wanted to be able to sell things like empanadas and tres leches cake. We sell coquito year-round,” she said.
In the future, Stuart plans to open her cinema in another theater next door. And next year, she hopes to open another location in Brownsville.
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