NYC movie theater hosting free "Deadpool & Wolverine" screenings this weekend
NEW YORK - A small, independent movie theater in Brooklyn is giving away free movie tickets to "Deadpool & Wolverine" this weekend. It's part of an effort to support family-owned theaters around the country.
For the second year in a row, Stuart Cinema & Cafe is partnering with PlutoTV to provide free screenings to the community.
Free screenings of "Deadpool & Wolverine" in Brooklyn
This weekend's showings will be for the newly released Marvel movie "Deadpool & Wolverine."
"They have been going to different theaters, independent theaters, and to support those theaters, they do a whole weekend where they take over and they offer free movie tickets to your community," theater owner Emelyn Stuart said.
"Deadpool & Wolverine" is rated R, so Stuart said the theater will be doing a community scavenger hunt for the kids around the neighborhood to give them the opportunity to win free tickets to another movie.
"This way the kids also get something, 'cause we're showing 'Deadpool' and it's not necessarily for little kids, so we wanted to make sure they had something fun," she said.
You can get more information on free tickets for this weekend here.
PlutoTV is owned by Paramount, which is the parent company of CBS New York.
Owner of independent theater in Brooklyn wants visitors to feel at home
The movie theater is a place for the magic of cinema to come alive. Stuart knows this all too well.
A filmmaker herself, she decided to open her own theater when she experienced firsthand the challenges independent producers faced in getting their work on a big screen.
"I had been producing film and TV independently for like 12 years, and I couldn't get theatrical distribution. And so someone said, 'if you really want to be able to control what people watch, you have to open your own movie theater,'" Stuart told CBS News New York's Hannah Kliger.
She said she's the first Afro-Latina to own a movie theater in New York City.
In anticipation of the free movie weekend, the smell of buttered popcorn and empanadas filled the air Friday. Stuart said her mom makes them every day and they're a fan favorite.
"The goal was never to be like an AMC or a Regal. The goal was to be a place that felt like home. And I wanted to be able to sell things like empanadas and sell tres leches cake. We sell coquito year-round," she said.
As for the future, Stuart has plans to expand to another screen next door. And next year, she hopes to open another location in Brownsville.
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