AMC movie theatre opens next to North Station

Inside the AMC Causeway 13 movie theatre next to TD Garden.Courtesy of AMC

After three years of darkness, one downtown Boston movie theatre has again turned on its projectors.

AMC Causeway 13, a new 13-screen, 66,806-square foot location of the cinema chain, debuted next to TD Garden at the Hub on Causeway on Thursday.

The site was formerly occupied by a location of the upscale ArcLight Cinemas, which opened just months before COVID-19 struck. After staying closed through April of 2021, ArcLight shut down for good as the pandemic decimated the movie theatre business. AMC purchased the site last December.

The AMC Causeway 13 movie theatre next to TD Garden.Courtesy of AMC

It is the first AMC movie theatre since 2017 to open in Boston, which has “a long history of being one of the best moviegoing markets in the country,” Dan Ellis, an executive vice president at AMC, said in a statement announcing the opening.

The Causeway location will join 10 other AMC theaters in Massachusetts, including branches near Boston Common, in Somerville’s Assembly Row, and in Dorchester’s South Bay shopping center (which was the most recent location to open).

Bryan Koop, the executive vice president of the Boston region of Boston Properties (also known as BXP), which owns the Hub on Causeway, said the cinema was a welcome addition to the development.

“BXP is thrilled to welcome AMC to The Hub on Causeway and showcase their innovative and affordable movie-going experience to both locals and visitors,” said Koop in a statement. “AMC’s opening further solidifies the neighborhood surrounding The Hub as the entertainment and creative district for the City of Boston.”

AMC Causeway 13 offers reserved seating and ticketless entry, along with the chain’s standard recliners and laser projection, according to the company. In the coming weeks, the theatre said, the MacGuffins Bar will begin serving drinks before, during, and after films.

In the coming weeks, the MacGuffins Bar at the new AMC Causeway 13 will begin serving drinks before, during, and after films.Courtesy of AMC

The movie theatre landscape in Boston has been in flux in recent years. Though the industry is still bouncing back from pandemic lows, some big releases have brought moviegoers out in droves over the past several months — namely, this summer’s “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” (bolstered by the “Barbenheimer” double-feature combo) and “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” concert film this fall.

On Friday, Alamo Drafthouse is set to open its first Boston location in the Seaport, moving into the space of a former ShowPlace ICON Theatre, another pandemic casualty. Soon, the independent Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline will debut a 14,000-square-foot expansion.

It hasn’t all been happy endings. Earlier this year, a Fenway outpost of Regal Theatres shut off its projectors as its parent company underwent bankruptcy proceedings.

If you have a hankering for some Garden-adjacent moviegoing on Thursday (or just want a new venue in which to see Nicole Kidman’s viral AMC ad), you’re in luck. Showtimes at the new multiplex include “The Marvels,” “Trolls Band Together,” “Next Goal Wins,” “Thanksgiving,” and, of course, “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” according to the theatre’s website.