The Marcus Elk River Cinema in Elk River, Minnesota closed Tuesday, April 18, 2023. The nearly 75,000 square foot building is for sale.

Located 30 miles northwest of downtown Minneapolis near Highway 169 and School Street NW, the seventeen-screen movie theater was operated by Marcus Theatres. The company announced the closure on the theater's Facebook page the week beforehand. In a message posted the following Monday, they said that the weekend turnout was "great," which leads one to question if the theater was closing due to low attendance or other reasons.

Originally built in 1986, the theater was operated by Guetschoff Theatre Management when Marcus Theatres took over in 1997. The transfer was part of a deal that involved six locations in the Twin Cities area as Marcus expanded into the area from its home base of Wisconsin.

Commercial real estate property site LoopNet lists the property as being available for $3.8 million. There is no mention of any restrictions which would prevent it from being a movie theater again, but given the competition in the area, major renovations would likely be needed to make it the first choice for moviegoers in the area.

Those moviegoers now will need to visit one of the other nearby theaters, including the St. Michael Cinema in St. Michael, the Emagine Rogers in Rogers, and the Emagine Monticello in Monticello. If you have a Marcus Theatres gift card to use, the closest locations are the Marcus Oakdale Cinema in Oakdale, the Marcus Parkwood Cinema in Waite Park, and the Marcus Southbridge Crossing Cinema in Shakopee.