State Theatre Hutchinson

06/11/2026

There’s been some ongoing conversation about THE STATE being labeled a “part-time theater,” which is sort of amusing.

We have to laugh a little, because some people make it sound like we’re operating a pop-up movie screen in a cornfield rather than a professionally run movie theater that has served Hutchinson and the surrounding communities for 89 years.

So we started to wonder…

Is a restaurant or store “part-time” because it’s closed one or two days a week?

Is a gas station “part-time” because it isn’t open 24 hours a day?

Are drive-ins “part-time theaters” because they only operate at night?

What about theaters that close screens for weeks, months, or even years due to lack of demand, staffing issues, or renovations?

You can see how quickly that argument falls apart.

For us, our hours are always posted clearly, our showtimes are available online, and our model is simple: keep prices affordable by matching our operating schedule to actual customer demand.

We follow the metrics.

Why burn staffing and utility costs during historically underused times, only to pass those costs back to customers through higher prices when demand is actually there?
As we all know, the movie business has changed. The old pre-COVID playbook does not always work in today’s reality.

We’re here to present movies properly, offer unique programming, keep prices affordable, and make sure THE STATE remains healthy for years to come.

That’s not a “part-time theater.”

That’s smart business.

See you at THE STATE.

06/10/2026

Of course THE STATE has the TOY STORY 5 collectible bucket! 🤠🚀

These will be available starting June 18, along with a few other fun TOY STORY 5 items.

Quantities will be limited, so grab yours when you come see TOY STORY 5 in our BIG THEATER with state-of-the-art 4K projection and immersive Dolby Digital Surround Sound!

TOY STORY 5 — coming June 18 to THE STATE! 🍿✨

06/10/2026

🎬 WEDNESDAY MOVIE DISCOUNT — JUST $5!

At THE STATE, our Wednesday $5 tickets are simple:

No membership required.
No refillable bucket required.
No app required.
No hoops to jump through.

Just $5 tickets for EVERYONE — plus tax —along with our always low snack bar prices--- because we believe affordable moviegoing should be easy.

Same movie. Better experience. Smarter price.

See you at THE STATE in Downtown Hutchinson!

06/09/2026

🎬 A BLIND BARGAIN — STARTS EXCLUSIVELY at THE STATE this Friday!

A lost Lon Chaney silent horror film from 1922 gets a stylish new life in A BLIND BARGAIN — a retro psychological thriller starring the one and only Crispin Glover.

Set in 1970, the film follows a desperate young man who makes a dark deal with an unhinged doctor… only to discover that every bargain has a price.

This is exactly the kind of oddball, cult-movie curiosity we love bringing to Hutchinson — strange, stylish, unsettling, and absolutely not the same old thing.

And this one is extra special for us: director Paul Bunnell is a long-time friend of ours from LA and we’re thrilled to bring his film to THE STATE.

Photographed on Kodak film with an aspect ratio of 1.66:1, we can’t wait to share this with everyone!

🎥 A BLIND BARGAIN
Starts Friday - Only at THE STATE Theatre

Same movie? Not this time.
This one’s a little weirder!!!

06/09/2026

🎬 TECH NERD CORNER TIME!

WHY TOY STORY 5 WON'T FILL THE ENTIRE SCREEN.

TOY STORY 5 is presented in 1.85:1, which means it will not fill the full width of our 40-foot Panorama Screen.

In fact, no theater in the area will use its entire screen width for this film — that's simply the format Pixar chose.

A 1.85:1 image, no matter the film, uses only about 77% of the width of a CinemaScope (2.39:1) screen, so the picture appears narrower than a scope film, even though it still uses the full image height.

At THE STATE, that means the image will be approximately 31 feet wide rather than the full 40 feet. The same thing will happen at every other theater showing the film — the projected image will be about 23% narrower than that theater's full CinemaScope screen width.

As always, we'll be presenting it 100% correctly — exactly as Pixar intended. 🍿

See the graphic below for a visual explanation.

TOY STORY 5 opens JUNE 18 in 4K at THE STATE — Downtown Hutchinson!

06/08/2026

Always a fun read over a nice ice-cold beverage on a hot day!

🎯 THE REAL DIFFERENCE — WHAT ACTUALLY MATTERS ON SCREEN.

Everyone loves to say “laser” like it’s some magic upgrade.

It’s not.
It’s just a different tool.
Let’s get real—and remove the propaganda 👇

Right now, there are three primary light systems in cinema—in both 2K and 4K:

Xenon, RGB Laser, and Laser Phosphor.

_______________________________________
🔥 RGB LASER = Maximum brightness + widest color

👉 Pure red, green, and blue laser primaries (no filtered white light)
👉 Can exceed DCI-P3 and push toward Rec. 2020
👉 Extremely bright—built for premium large-format screens
👉 Incredible color separation and saturation
❗ BUT—what nobody tells you:
• Can introduce metamerism (skin tones can vary viewer to viewer)
• Requires precise calibration—or it looks overcooked
• Can feel more “spectacle” than “cinema”

👉 Bottom line:
RGB laser is the performance ceiling—but it has its own visual character
👉 And yes—premium systems like Dolby Cinema dual-laser are on another level:
• Dual projection = higher brightness + contrast
• Expanded color volume
• HDR-style presentation

➡️ When done right, it’s stunning. This isn’t anti-laser—it’s reality.

Offered by BARCO and Christie
_______________________________________
⚙️ LASER PHOSPHOR = Efficient… not elite

👉 Blue laser (sometimes blue + red) + phosphor wheel to create white light
👉 Lower maintenance, consistent brightness
👉 Built for reliability—not ultimate image quality

❗ Visually:
• Narrower spectrum
• Subtle color bias (especially reds/skin tones)
• Harder highlights
• More “digital” / “clinical” feel

👉 Bottom line:
It works. It’s stable. Much lower price point than RGB Laser Projectors. Not a premium presentation

Offered by NEC and Christie
_______________________________________
🎬 XENON = Natural, balanced, film-first image

👉 Full-spectrum white light
👉 Matches how films were historically graded and approved
👉 Native alignment with DCI-P3
👉 Smooth highlight roll-off
👉 Excellent color blending—especially skin tones.

👉 Why it still matters:
• This is the reference look movies were built on
• No spectral gaps = fewer color surprises
• The “cinema look” audiences recognize comes from this

👉 Bottom line:
Xenon delivers a cohesive, natural image that feels like a movie—not a demo reel

Offered by BARCO and Christie
_______________________________________

🎥 AT THE STATE
We’re proud to run Xenon—delivering the brightest 4K images in the area on our massive 40-foot screen.

And yes—we’re actively evaluating the latest RGB laser systems from Barco. It’s getting closer to Xenon in our view… but metamerism is still an issue.

🧠 FINAL VERDICT

RGB Laser → Maximum performance
Xenon → Maximum realism
Laser Phosphor → Maximum practicality for cost-conscious cinemas.

🎯 BOTTOM LINE
Remember, not all “laser” illumination is the same.

RGB LASER - Barco & Christie

LASER PHOSPHOR - NEC & Christie


After 30+ years working with top colorists, filmmakers, and engineers, and still working on projects today—along with hundreds of titles under my belt—I feel pretty confident in saying I know exactly what movies are supposed to look like on the big screen… from both Xenon and laser-illuminated images.

🔥 See the difference for yourself at THE STATE —

Hutchinson’s Home for Big-Screen Entertainment!

06/08/2026

Early Access Thursday Showtimes are NOW ON SALE!

See DISCLOSURE DAY, Steven Spielberg's 34th theatrical feature, before the official opening day at THE STATE — Presented in stunning BARCO 4K Projection, on our 40-Foot Panorama Screen with immersive Dolby Digital Sound---at the LOWEST PRICES AROUND...both at the Box Office and Snack Bar :)

🎬 Thursday, June 11
⏰ 4:00 PM & 6:45 PM
🎟️ Tickets on sale now

Experience one of the summer's biggest movies the way it was meant to be seen — on the BIG SCREEN.

See it first. See it BIG. See it correctly. See it at THE STATE. 🍿🎬

06/08/2026

This Saturday, we kick off FREE SUMMER KIDS MOVIES at THE STATE, brought to you by Kirk Hendrickson of Farm Bureau Financial Services

This week’s film is THE IRON GIANT — the wonderful story of a lonely boy who discovers a giant robot from space, beginning an unlikely friendship that will change both of their lives forever.
One of the very best animated films of the 1990s!

🚪 Doors open at 9:30 AM
🎬 Movie starts at 10:00 AM
🎟️ Admission is FREE — first come, first served.

See you at THE STATE - Downtown Hutchinson!

06/08/2026

Funny thing: many of the world's most prestigious theaters — the Chinese, the Egyptian, the Paris in New York, the Music Box in Chicago, and the David Geffen Theater at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, to name a few — don't look like modern recliner multiplexes. Neither do the private screening rooms at major Hollywood studios, where filmmakers, executives, editors, and sound teams actually watch and judge movies.

We get it: exhibitors need an ROI on recliners. But selling them as the ultimate moviegoing upgrade doesn’t automatically make them the gold standard for moviegoing.

Recliners are perfectly fine if that’s what you enjoy. Nothing wrong with that! But serious moviegoing has never been defined by how far the seat leans back. It’s about sightlines, state-of-the-art projection, amazing sound, unbeatable atmosphere, and respect for the movie itself.

For the people who make movies, restore movies, mix movies, judge movies — and for cinephiles who truly love them — the main focus has always been on presentation, not the type of furniture or a tray table at arm’s length.

The best seat in the house isn’t the one that leans back the farthest. It’s the one that lets you experience the movie the way it was meant to be seen.

We know some bean counters may think differently, but the world’s most respected theaters prove the point for us: great moviegoing has never had just one definition.

See you at THE STATE — Downtown Hutchinson!

06/07/2026

🌙 LATE AT THE STATE starts this Saturday! 🌙

Join us Saturday, June 13, at 10:00 PM as we kick off our summer series of classic late-night movies with the cult favorite: THE WARRIORS.

🎟️ All Tickets $5.00 + Tax
🎬 Big 40 foot Screen Presentation
✔️ BARCO 4K Projection (studio-level brightness!)
✔️ Immersive Dolby Digital Surround (some films will be MONO, others STEREO)

Twin Cities film fans — take a drive west to Hutchinson this summer and check out another great theatre bringing repertory programming to the big screen!!!!

Late at the State features 8 Saturday nights of classic films, cult favorites, and big-screen fun at our historic restored art-seco downtown theatre.

Make the trip. See something great. Experience THE STATE.

📍 THE STATE — Downtown Hutchinson