At 12:29 PM, on February 8, 1980, Mann’s Woodbridge 5 sat ready to open, as the city of Irvine’s first movie theatre. At 12:30 PM, the theatre opened it’s doors, as Edwards’ latest entry in the Orange County market.
A cinema changing operators is normally a matter of little note. Be it a merger, buyout, bankruptcy, loss of lease, or any number of mundane business decisions, theatres often pass around the industry like a hot potato. On occasion, such transactions occur before the site has even broken ground. However, few theatres turn over in the fashion the Woodbridge 5 did.
.
Back in 1977, regional powerhouse, Mann Theatres, had engaged in a heated battle with Orange County titan, Edwards Theatres, over the cinema rights to a small Irvine retail development. At the time, the Woodbridge Village Center was an empty meadow and Irvine was little more than an up and coming planned community. Yet, the opportunity to obtain an early foothold, in tightly managed Irvine, was something neither company wanted to pass on. The fact that each company was headed up by individuals who were well known for their egos, Mann’s Ted Mann and Edwards James Edwards, only added to this sense of competition.
.
After a drawn out bidding war and show of “one-ups-manship”, Mann won the rights to the cinema, breaking ground in 1978. While planned for a 1979 opening, the center soon became bogged down in a series of mistakes and setbacks (one such delay coming in the form of a santa ana wind blowing down the center’s framework). Ultimately, the center wouldn’t be completed until early 1980 and the cinema a few months later.
.
Having persevered the “challenging” James Edwards and worked through a near two year construction process, Mann was finally ready to tap in to it’s hard won new market. Then, without notice, the Mann Woodbridge 5 officially became the Edwards Woodbridge 5, as the doors opened for business.
.
The reasons and details were never public, leading locals to create an urban legend of Edwards “stealing” the theatre from Mann, via last minute political wrangling; but, the reality was likely far less dramatic. Surely, there was a standard business transaction, that involved a greater degree of negotiation and time than appearances reveal. Somewhere, the true story is documented in yellowing paperwork. However, the fact that Mann publicized the grand opening, as late as a day before the theatre changed hands, leads one to believe the deal wasn’t finalized until the final hour.
.
In any case, the “complicated” Woodbridge 5 opening came to foreshadow what was ahead for each of the chains, in Orange County. Edwards would go on to create a near cinema monopoly in the county, while Mann would struggle to establish a stable presence; all three of Mann’s future county sites, along with the established Brea location, eventually came under Edwards ownership.
.
The Woodbridge 5, a theatre that seemingly changed ownership with the push of a door lever.
.
Update (2/15/09): Looking through some old Los Angeles Times articles, the Woodbridge “mystery” was solved. According to a 1988 Edwards profile, James Edwards Sr. “made an offer Mann couldn’t refuse”. As speculated, in the original post, Edwards simply decided that he wanted the theatre at the last minute and was willing to pay top dollar for the site.
Tags: 2 Comments
2 responses so far ↓
[…] the co management was never made public, but the scenario appears to be somewhat similar to Mann’s/Edwards’ Woodbridge theatre deal, three years earlier; with the exception that Mann sold the Woodbridge, while Sanborn chose to […]
[…] . Thirty years ago today, Mann Theatres prepared to open Irvine’s first cinema, only to turn the venue over to rival, Edwards Theatres, at noon. Three decades later finds the little five screen Woodbridge Theatre one of only six pre […]