Xscape Theatres in Brandywine permanently closed Tuesday after more than a decade in business, leaving movie fans and employees stunned.
Leaders of a Maryland church also are feeling the ripple effects. New Life Church had secured a rental agreement to hold church services inside the theater, as part of an expansion project.
“My wife and I actually visited this theater a few months ago,” New Life Church’s lead pastor, Theo Bolden, said.
The theater had offered a familiar escape from reality just off Crain Highway. For more than a decade, cinephiles poured into the Xscape Theatres at the Brandywine Crossing complex to take in the latest blockbuster.
“It’s actually a nice theater. I’m surprised that it’s closed,” one woman said.
This week, movie buffs found out online and in person the cinema was permanently closed. Xscape posted signs on every door and online, thanking customers for their years of patronage. The company didn’t explain why or give any indication of what might come next.
The abrupt closure now has church leaders scrambling to make different plans.
“It was a surprise because we were supposed to launch our church here on Sept. 20, and so that didn’t give us a big window to work with,” New Life Church’s senior pastor, Mike Hilson, said.
Church leadership based in La Plata had secured a rental agreement as part of an expansion project to hold services inside the theater.
“We planned since pre-COVID to launch up in this area, and so we’ve just been looking for the right moment,” Hilson said. “… Our goal is to launch with between 500 and 600 people.”
But with Xscape Theatres’ sudden closure, New Life Church’s rental agreement was nullified. Church leadership is now searching for other locations to host their services Sunday mornings.
The 14-screen theater and its 60,000-square-foot building is right next to a bustling area with real estate development, along with mixed-use retail. Last November, Finmarc Management acquired the property as part of a $15.1 million acquisition that also included Cinemark Centreville in Northern Virginia.
News4 reached out to the Kentucky-based cinema chain, along with the property owner, but we have not heard back about why the Brandywine cinema has closed.
Meanwhile, church leaders say they’re taking a leap of faith.
“The Holy Spirit opens doors and closes doors, so when this door closes, he’s got another one that he’s going to open and in the end, we’ll be where God wants us to be,” Hilson said.
