Copyright Arkansas Times
Movie theater/entertainment center concept Film Alley — the newest addition to the Breckenridge Village (10301 N. Rodney Parham Road) revitalization project — will open Thursday, Nov. 13, at 6 p.m. Film Alley takes the place of the former 12-screen Regal UA Breckenridge, which closed in 2023. The new “movie entertainment center,” from Texas-based Schulman Theatres, Inc, involved renovating four of the auditoriums to accommodate a full kitchen for in-theater dining, a restaurant concept called the 5S Rock Bar and Grill with 24 beers on tap, party rooms, a duckpin bowling alley and a 5,000-square-foot arcade. If you’re not familiar with duckpin bowling, it’s very similar to traditional bowling but with significantly smaller lanes and a smaller ball without three holes. It’s scored the same, but players get three turns per frame rather than two. Members of the Arkansas Times staff will try this concept out, hopefully with a few competitive wagers, and report back with our findings. Schulman Theatres was founded in 1926, and is managed by fourth- and fifth-generation operators. Nathan Schulman, vice president of The Schulman Group, told the Arkansas Times on Friday that the Breckenridge movie center is the company’s first to open outside of Texas, where the group operates seven theaters, five of which are Film Alley concepts. Schulman said that in addition to the party rooms, guests can rent out the duckpin bowling area or reserve lanes. Film Alley will also offer auditorium rentals for private screenings or corporate events. The multimillion-dollar revitalization of Breckenridge, which was originally built in the mid-1970s, has been underway since 2022 following the purchase of the shopping center by a consortium of The Kelley Group, the Keet Family behind JTJ Restaurants, Dale V. “Bo” Briggs, the Nashville-based Bodnar Group and others. Several restaurants have opened in the center since the purchase, including new locations for Mt. Fuji, Waldo’s Chicken & Beer, The Root Cafe and Hot Springs’ Deluca’s Pizza. Flyway Brewing will be opening a taproom in the complex soon. We were told back in the summer that the company was targeting a date in November. The renovation at Breckenridge suffered a setback after the complex was hit by the March 31, 2023, EF-3 tornado that devastated parts of Little Rock, North Little Rock, Sherwood and Jacksonville. Longtime Breckenridge tenant Eat My Catfish required eight months of “major external and internal structural reconstruction” before it was able to reopen following the storm. Last year, the Little Rock Board of Directors approved a temporary entertainment district encompassing the entire Breckenridge Village property, allowing visitors to drink alcohol anywhere in the complex seven days a week, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. In January, the board voted to extend the entertainment district designation until the end of 2025.
