The Keystone Cinemas - Mount Washington in Mount Washington, Kentucky has closed permanently.

According to our records, the last time the theater showed movies was in late September. It continued to post updates to its Facebook page, letting customers know if and when they were going to start showing movies again.

Located off Old Mill Road southwest of downtown Mount Washington, the theater opened in 2011. As their message says, Keystone Cinemas also operates the Keystone Cinemas - Bardstown, which is about a 30-minute drive to the south.

The following message was posted to the Keystone Cinemas Facebook page on December 13, 2020:

Unprecedented times call for tough business decisions. The short-term impact of the pandemic and more importantly, the extreme changes in the business model of theatrical exhibition will cause a large percentage of movie screens to permanently go dark in the coming months across the USA.

We have chosen to permanently close our Mt. Washington location. This facility has been sold and will not reopen as a theater.

We look forward to reopening in 2021 in our Bardstown location. Keystone Cinemas will continue to focus on providing a superior experience for our customers. Thank You!

Sincerely,
Keystone Cinemas

Moviegoers in the area will need to visit one of the other nearby theaters, including the Cinemark Preston Crossings 16 in Okolona and the AMC Stonybrook 20 in Louisville. Both are currently showing movies.

The message above places obvious responsibility on the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, but it also places blame on the movie industry shifting under its feet. This is likely a reaction to the recent news that Warner Bros. would be releasing its entire 2021 movie slate to movie theaters and to its online streaming service, HBO Max, simultaneously.

While we agree that this news from Warner Bros. and the recent moves by Disney to shift some of its content to its streaming service has the potential to upend the theatrical exhibition industry, we haven't seen the real impact that it's going to have. It's a little soon to be heading for the hills, but it will probably make underperforming movie theaters rethink their future plans, and we could see more such closures in the future.

Theater photo by Keystone Cinemas (Facebook)