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IQALUIT
Popular demand convinced the owner of Iqaluit and Nunavut's only movie theatre to re-open on March 16, five days after shutting down.

Bryan Pearson, who owns the movie theatre, had said he had shut down the Astro Theatre and Conference Centre on March 11 for "the time being," because of a lack of community support. As soon as word got out about the closure, that support started to show its face.

The Astro Theatre, Iqaluit and Nunavut's only movie theatre, re-opened on March 16 by popular demand, five days after shutting down. Owner Bryan Pearson is pictured at the theatre in August 2010, when he was switching to digital from film projectors in an effort to reduce shipping costs.

"So many calls from people, begging for us to open again. It seems as though we'll give it another shot," he said.

Pearson started the Astro in 1996 out of an empty warehouse owned by the CBC.

Patrick Nagle, area manager for the CBC in Nunavut, said they have negotiated a multi-year lease with Pearson about a year ago. He added Pearson has the option to periodically close, if needed, as part of his lease.

"We're happy that he's open again," said Nagle.

The Astro Theatre, located in the Frobisher Inn adjacent to the CBC North building in the territorial capital, offers two digital movie screens, including one capable of showing 3-D movies, and a combined seating of 195.

The theatre typically screens four movies every week. Pearson told Nunavut News/North in 2009 the monthly rent for the theatre is $7,000 and the freight to bring the movies up from Montreal, before going digital, was about $40,000 a year.

Pearson acquired two digital screens in the fall of 2010, saving him a considerable amount of money in shipping. He told Nunavut News/North in 2009 and 2010 it was a "struggle" to keep the movie theatre open but that he hoped his luck would change with the arrival of the 3-D screen.

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