General Cinema Corporation Magnet

General Cinemas opened August 1976 shortly after Rolling Acres Mall’s opening. The cinema and mall garnered negative publicity in 1991, when a fight between two young men outside the theater incited a panic. During the scuffle, a metal sign was knocked over which was mistakenly interpreted as a gunshot. Although gangs and the movie “New Jack City” (which was letting out at the time) were initially rumored to have been the problem, in actuality the scuffle erupted over one man taking the other man’s jacket. In 1992, the cinemas switched to a second-run, $0.99-a-show format, much to the dismay of mall management and tenants. In 1993, citing several years of unprofitability, General Cinemas opted to close the theater with three years s...