Kevin Smith Bought His Childhood Theater So He Could Shoot a Movie There — and Says Running It Is the ‘Toughest Job I’ll Ever Love’

Buying the Atlantic Movie House gave Smith the perfect location to film "The 4:30 Movie," but he's not immune to the challenges facing every independent theater operator.

How does Kevin Smith feel about receiving his best reviews in years for “The 4:30 Movie,” a film that he shot at his childhood movie theater after purchasing it in 2021?

“The lesson is never make a movie until you have the location first,” Smith said with a laugh during a recent conversation with IndieWire. “Because, in the case of ‘Clerks,’ there was a location and then the story grew from that. And with ‘The 4:30 Movie,’ it’s like I had a location and the story grew from that… I can’t fuck up those movies, I guess is what it comes down to.”

Smith grew up attending movies at the Atlantic Twin Cinemas in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, which was later rebranded as the Atlantic Movie House. And like many independent theaters in America, the venue was already struggling before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. But 2020 proved to be a crippling blow that threatened to bankrupt the theater where Smith forged his love affair with movies. Rather than let that happen, New Jersey’s most famous cinephile and some of his deep-pocketed friends teamed up to purchase and renovate the theater, reopening it under his own Smodcastle Cinemas branding in 2022. Smith’s motives were primarily altruistic… but he was already thinking about using it as a filming location when he pulled the trigger on the deal.

“I’m no dummy, we’d just come out of Covid. I knew that film exhibition was not as strong as it was. But this was our movie theater, man. This is a movie theater I sat in next to my father, and there are very few places left where my father dwelled. He’s been dead 22 years,” he said. “Keeping it alive, it felt like, okay, nobody in the world is going to fault me for trying to save my childhood movie theater. And I got friends, let’s do it. Part of the reason, part of the decision, in the back of my head, I was like, ‘And, if you do this, then you have a free location to shoot a movie.’ So they’re hand-in-hand. I don’t think I’d buy the movie theater with my friends unless I know that, like, ‘Oh, I can also do this thing here as well.'”

That thing turned out to be “The 4:30 Movie,” Smith’s semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story about 1980s teenagers who spend a pivotal summer day sneaking between movies at their local cinema. The film serves as an origin story for Smith’s own decision to pursue a career in filmmaking, giving the famously raunchy auteur a chance to show off his sincere side with a story that shares more DNA with John Hughes than anything starring Jay and Silent Bob.

“As soon as we were locked, that’s when I started talking to my friends. I was like, ‘I’m going to shoot a movie here,'” Smith said. “They’re like, “What is it, like ‘Clerks?’ Like ‘Ushers?’ And I was like, ‘No,’ because I’ve never worked in a movie theater, and for me to make a movie about that would be stolen like valor. I don’t play with that kind of shit. I don’t truck with that. But I’ve been in a movie theater my whole life.”

Instead, Smith decided to make a film about his first true love: attending movies.

“When I was a kid, we used to pay for one movie, get dropped off at noon, spend all day jumping from movie to movie to movie until our parents picked us up at midnight. I said, ‘That’s what I want to do. I can make a movie about going to the movies. I’ve been making movies about people who make movies, now I can make a movie about going to the movies,'” he said. “We tend to make stories about the things that make us passionate, and going to the movies has been one of the only things I’ve maintained a lifelong passion for.”

Now that “The 4:30 Movie” is in the can, Smith’s new role as a theater owner gives him plenty of time to think about his lifelong passion. Smodcastle Cinemas now shows movies every day of the week, but even a celebrity-owned venue isn’t immune to the challenges facing indie theaters across America.

“It is… What did they used to say in the army? ‘It’s the toughest job you’ll ever love,'” he said when asked about life as an independent venue operator. “It isn’t a job. It’s an absolute pleasure.”

Smith explained that his programming aims to strike a balance between his own work — which consistently draws the kind of local crowds that can keep a theater in business — with more adventurous programming that his neighbors wouldn’t otherwise be able to experience.

“This weekend, we just had two screenings where I was in town. We did a ‘4:30 Movie’ sold out on Friday night, and that was great. Then we did ‘Crazy House.’ XYZ brought this film from these two filmmakers [Steffen Haars and Flip van der Kuil] from Holland,” he said. “So, when we bought the theater, this is what I dreamed about. I love showing my movies, don’t get me wrong, that’s fucking cool and whatnot. We can always pack a house doing it with my stuff, but being able to take a movie that was never coming to fucking suburban New Jersey, and showcase it, and bring the filmmakers and bring the actor as well so that people, normal-ass people can sit there and interact with international filmmakers in suburban New Jersey… That was the dream.”

But while Smith is basking in the excitement of owning his childhood haven, it’s not all fun and games. He admits that, while he can draw crowds with specialty programming, it’s tougher to compete with newer and more luxurious theaters for new releases.

“When it comes to brand new movies, nobody gives a fuck about our movie theater. They’d rather go down the street to the Carmike that’s got the lay-back seats, and the bar in it, and stuff like that,” he said. “So our theater, even though we can show first-run movies — here, I’ll give you the insight. ‘Beetlejuice 2’ came out. I said, ‘How did we do with Beetlejuice?’ [The manager] goes, ‘We did great, man. Friday, 50 tickets sold.’ That’s every theater. We have five screens. 50 tickets sold. Saturday, 113. Those are good numbers for us for a new movie. Most other movie theaters would be driven out of business, and so would we, were it not for the other stuff we could do. So when it’s weak, every month I could come in, do a show that raises $20 to $30k and that keeps our lights on.”

Once it became clear that the theater faced unique financial challenges, Smith and his partners decided to restructure it as a nonprofit entity, allowing it to solicit donations from cinephiles who don’t have time to make it to a movie.

“We had to go nonprofit and not because it was like if we didn’t, we would close,” he said. “But I was like, ‘Look, none of us are ever going to make any money in the movie business, I guess we’re the only people failing at this, but rather than let it die because it’s not a good business investment, we can go nonprofit, man, and maybe get some government help, or at the very least people know and they’ll donate.'”

But none of the challenges have been enough to make Smith regret his decision. For all of his successes, he’s still the kid in “The 4:30 Movie” who found movie theaters so enchanting that he decided to devote his entire life to them. In his view, keeping a community institution that changed his life afloat is reward enough. The free location was just an added bonus.

“That’s the one thing in town I hear about from most people when I’m out on the street. ‘Thank you for saving the movie theater.’ They’re all appreciative,” he said. “Some things fall by the wayside when life lifes you, but going to the movies… I don’t go to church anymore, but I still go to the movies.”

A Saban Films release, “The 4:30 Movie” is now playing in select theaters.