SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - When Chris Wood, manager of Capitol Theatre, wants to give people an idea of how long he's been in the movie theatre business, he usually tells them the same story: there he was, at 14, working as an usher in the Centennial Theatre in Brampton, Ont., and watching in awe as George Lucas' Star Wars hurled its way through the screen on opening night.

But despite his 46 years, Wood still gets asked, "Well, was it during the re-release in 1997?"

Try May 25, 1977.

"It was a spectacular day, that was.

"We never thought we'd see another film do that kind of business again," said Wood.

Time spent managing theatres all over Ontario would prove him wrong. Today, as the manager of Yellowknife's only theatre, he can hardly keep the huge blockbuster of the moment long enough before the next cash cow comes roaring through town, demanding screen time.

"Sometimes we're dropping films that are still doing well because we have to make room for new product," said Wood, speaking of his principal challenge as manager.

But that could change. Wood and the Ontario-based partnership behind the theatre, Canadian Cinemas Ltd., are considering adding a fourth screen, although plans are hardly set in stone at the moment.

"We're weighing that against converting Cinema 1 to digital projection," said Wood, "because when you get digital projection, you get 3-D."

Successes like Pixar's Up - which saw a significant portion of its box office earnings come from 3-D showings made possible by digital projection - have Wood and the theatre owners seriously considering the move.

"Pixar has come out and said that, after Toy Story 3 (which comes out next June), they're no longer going to produce films on film. All their films are going to be digital. We're seeing theatres being built in Canada now that are completely digital."

At a Montreal movie theatre trade show called Show Canada, held last month, Wood was among a crowd of people who took in a sampling of digital projection, an experience that left him wowed.

"Once you've seen digital and you watch regular film again, you go, 'Why am I putting up with this?'"

Going digital also means operating at a lower cost, he added.

"It will virtually cut our shipping costs to nothing. Instead of paying to have two 75 pound cans of film shipped and back, you're looking at shipping a hard drive by courier. You pop that into your computer in the projection booth and project it onto the screen."

The fourth screen isn't completely off the table. In fact, Wood has an idea of how the fourth auditorium, which would potentially house 65 seats and take over the section of the theatre currently taken up by arcade games, would look.

"If we put the screen where the arcade is, we're thinking of making it a rear-screen projection, which means it would use the back office as the projection booth. Your screen basically becomes a big one-way rear window."

Theatre owners must pay a high percentage of box office receipts back to the distributor, but that percentage declines every week, making it important to keep successful movies on as long as possible.

For that reason, Wood would welcome a fourth screen. But he said the added revenue from 3-D showings is also substantial, making it a tough decision.

"One doesn't necessarily preclude the other, but I think that the onus might be more on the digital than adding the screen at this point."

Regardless of what Wood does, it will continue a series of improvements that he has undertaken since becoming manager one year ago.

Wood recently replaced the mud-caked carpet in the front lobby with floor tiles and plans to replace the much-worn 10-year-old carpet in the rest of the theatre by fall.

"We're not satisfied to sit on our laurels and say, 'We have a successful operation,'" said Wood.

"We have a certain amount of income that we can rely on and we're just going to sit back and collect the money.

"We think that the people up here deserve an entertainment venue just as nice as the people down south have."