Clintonia Eagle Theater, 13 Kelli Court, Clinton, IL (2026)

We are a five-screen theater featuring Sony digital projection and free refills on all sizes.

02/27/2026

The hardest thing to restart isn’t a projector. It’s a habit.

Our screens are dark right now. And while we work on reopening, I keep thinking about what really brings a theater back to life.

It’s not the building.

It’s not the equipment.

It’s the habit of going.

There’s a film coming in March called Project Hail Mary starring Ryan Gosling. It’s big-screen science fiction. Not a sequel. Not a superhero installment. A smart, original-feeling story with a lot of early buzz.

If we want theaters — ours included — to come back strong, movies like this need to succeed on the big screen.

We’ve seen what happens when the right movie hits at the right moment. Barbie and Oppenheimer didn’t just sell tickets. They turned going to the movies into an event again.

Maybe this can be another one of those moments.

So here’s our small request.

Go see Project Hail Mary in a theater. Any theater. Support the experience.

Save your receipt.

If and when we reopen, bring proof that you saw it, and your popcorn is on us.

Not because popcorn changes the world.

But because habits do.

When the movie opens, we’ll host a discussion thread right here so we can talk about it together — like we used to in the lobby.

Because movie culture doesn’t live on a couch.

It lives in a room.

02/14/2026

Dinner and a movie looks a little different this year...

We're still working hard behind the scenes to try to be back long before next Valentine's Day! 🤞❤️😘

01/31/2026

Are we going to reopen?

Too soon to tell.

NEW! All that we can share today is that an offer has been submitted for one of the locations that would involve refurbishing and update the theater and leasing it back to a successor operating company.

Gift cards bought in 2025 and all loyalty points would be honored. Popcorn buckets, too. Any 2025 buckets get an extra three months. Any 2026 buckets already sold get an 18 month lease on life

If that offer is accepted, we will negotiate a lease, and these agreements will be a template for the other two theaters, and that will kick off a lot of activity in a very compressed time.

In short...

Imagine a giant puzzle. We have the corner pieces, and if we can get the pieces with a straight edge framed. we can talk details and ex*****on.
..

In the meantime...

To rent the theater back to us, the investor will insist that a minimum of 1,500 per theater commit to seeing a movie a month.

And by "movie," we are talking about first run movies, binge events, classic films, mystery movies, and non-movie events, such as comedy shows, live music, or karaoke.

If you commit to coming out once a month, we will add another 80 or so events per year.

Today is not the day to ask for money. Today is the day to make a promise.

If we get to the next stage, we will ask for a refundable deposit towards the purchase of a six month or 12-month movie subscription.

This is a snowball. We are at the top of the hill and preparing to pushing it and becoming a snowperson at the bottom of the hill. Success looks like a slow start and a rapid acceleration.

No promises. You said you wanted to see your theater reopened and we don't give up easily.

If you haven't taken the survey yet, this is the absolutely essential next step: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/R2PLKXX

01/22/2026

Thinking about a movie this weekend?

A few of us caught Greenland 2 last night over in a larger market—gotta keep the moviegoing habit limber during our intermission. I can give you a couple of reasons why this movie is worth getting off the couch, but I’m not going to pretend this is a four-quadrant, must-see blockbuster.

That’s actually part of the appeal. This is a solid, grown-up moviegoing choice—the kind of movie people talk about on the way to the car.

Quick take: Greenland 2 continues a global survival story with real stakes, recognizable people, and a pace that trusts the audience. Gerard Butler has quietly become the most dependable, workmanlike leading man in action movies that ask a simple question: what does a decent person do when everything starts to go sideways? His recent run—Olympus Has Fallen (2013), Greenland (2020), Plane (2023)—has been consistently watchable, and this fits right into that lane. It’s also the kind of film where the theater gets quiet in the last act—not because it’s loud, but because people are paying attention.

There’s also a genre reason to show up. Depending on when you came of age, your touchstones might be Planet of the Apes (1968), The Terminator (1984), 28 Days Later (2002), WALL-E (2008), or more recently, Greenland (2020). This sequel lives in that human-scale lineage.

There’s a lot of work happening right now at all three Eagle theaters. The prospects for reopening are more than a wing and a prayer—they’re more like a giant jigsaw puzzle where the corner pieces are already set. No promise of outcome yet, but a total promise of effort.

If you’re interested in your Eagle theaters reopening, the most concrete way to help is simple: take the survey and commit to seeing an average of one movie a month if we can get through this.

We’ll pin the survey link in the comments shortly.

Do yiu have a favorite post-alocalyose film? Tell us about it.

—Eric

PS— Daughter and Regional Manager Kelsa Bowen has insisted that I shorten posts. She’s probably right. 😎

01/17/2026

I’ve been quieter than usual here for about a week, and I wanted to acknowledge that.

Efforts to reopen three theater continue hang on to your Annual Buckets Dont trade them in 🙂

The short version is that a lot of work has been happening off-line—calls, documents, meetings, and coordination with people who want to see a future for these theaters and the communities of Robinson, Clinton, and Streator

There are moments when the most responsible thing to do is focus on the work rather than narrate it in real time.

I expect to be able to share a clearer update by end of next week. Thanks for the patience—and for the steady encouragement.

—Eric Gubelman

Address

13 Kelli Court
Clinton, IL
61727

Telephone

+12179358881

Website

http://www.eagletheater.net/

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