The Southbridge Theater in Mason City, Iowa will be opening this weekend, marking the first time in 18 years that movies will be playing in the Southbridge Mall.

We reported in November on the theater's upcoming opening, which mentioned that the opening would be some time in the spring. Given that the theater originally opened May 23, 1985 as the Cinema V, we thought that a May 23 opening would be too good to pass up, but we now have news that the theater will be opening May 16, 2026.

“This reopening is both a celebration of the theater’s future and a nod to its past,” said Joshua Masson, Mason City City Council Member. “We’re excited to welcome the community back to the movies and relive a little bit of 1985 together.”

A ribbon cutting ceremony will be held Saturday at 11:30am followed by showings of the 80s classic movie, Footloose, starring Kevin Bacon. The movie showings will be at 12 Noon, 3:00pm, 6pm, and 9pm. Tickets can be purchased at the door on Saturday for $5 each.

The original plan was to open just one of the theater's original five screens, and there is no mention of how many screens will be operational. If we can obtain more details, we'll update this article accordingly.

The theater closed in September 2008 as the CEC - Cinema 5. Until now, moviegoers in the area have had to visit one of the other nearby theaters, including the CEC Theatres - Cinema West Theatre in Mason City and the Lake Theatre in Clear Lake.

Showtimes

We're working on getting the theater's showtimes, so keep an eye on the Showtimes page for the Southbridge Theater for updates!

Source: City of Mason City, Iowa Press Release