Yellowknife’s only movie theatre is set to shutter. Locals are hoping to save it

If it wasn’t for Jack Sparrow and the Capitol Theatre in Yellowknife, Phil Burgess might not be married.

Two decades ago, the man from Moncton, N.B., moved to the Northwest Territories, and it was at the theatre where he and his wife went to see “Pirates of the Caribbean” as their first date.

“It was a good first date movie,” Burgess laughed in a phone interview.

But it didn’t stop there. When the pair married, there was a special presentation of “Back to the Future” — his favourite film — held in one of the cinema’s three screening rooms.

And since July 2003, he estimates he’s seen roughly 80 films there.

But after decades of movie magic, the Capitol’s projector bulbs are set to burn out this month.

“I was really upset, but I wasn’t surprised,” Burgess said. “I’d seen the writing on the wall.

“The public wasn’t supporting it as much as I’d hoped they would.”

In an online statement, theatre management said it would close for good March 31.

It says with the economic weight of the COVID-19 pandemic, on top of recent wildfire evacuations, the movie house isn’t the money-maker it once was.

The Capitol, like most of its kind, began as a major social hub.

First opening on a corner lot in downtown Yellowknife in November 1947 — the year of Marilyn Monroe’s film debut — it could seat about 400, and there were double seats of green vinyl for lovebirds. Velvety curtains billowed around the screen. Kids would roll empty glass pop bottles down the raked floors.

In 1977, the theatre was demolished, and its front lobby was turned into a house. Its current home is in the Precambrian building, where — amid the salty, buttery aroma of freshly popped popcorn — it has screened first-run Hollywood films, local and indie movies, and played host to the Yellowknife International Film Festival.

But time hasn’t been kind to the theatre. The seats need refurbishing, and the interior could be described as a ’70s fever dream.

Its impending closure means only one cinema would remain in the territory — in the town of Hay River, about a five-hour drive south.

Movie buffs like Aidan Charpentier are hoping to keep features flickering.

“Some of my best memories in high school were at that movie theatre,” Charpentier said. “It made me a lifelong movie lover.”

Charpentier, a former employee and driving force behind the campaign of roughly two dozen locals to save the cinema, penned a letter to McCor Management and Det’on Cho Capital, which co-owns the Precambrian.

He said closing the Capitol would mean the loss of a social hub. Yellowknife is quite isolated, he said, and the only options for seeing a movie on the big screen would be to drive south to Hay River or fly to Alberta or British Columbia.

In a written response to the group, Det’on Cho said it was looking for a tenant with a “high value” business plan, and that a movie theatre wasn’t out of the question.

Burgess said he’s gung-ho about keeping the theatre. The hurdle, he said, is how to make it appealing to people who have ditched theatres for streaming.

Charpentier admits he’s asking the same questions. He recently went to see “Hamnet,” an Oscar-nominated movie, at the theatre, and only one other person was there.

“It’s pretty obvious that watching habits aren’t the same,” he said.

But despite changing watch habits, there remains a place for a theatre, Charpentier said.

“You can go to a theatre … and you can watch (a movie) with your full attention and get every detail,” he said.

“You could talk to people about it the second you leave the theatre and … that’s always quite beautiful.”

He believes a co-operative run by volunteers, showing old and new movies, is the best way to keep it alive. He also suggested things like craft nights that allow hobbyists to settle down with a good movie and gab.

But until then, the curtain is set to fall, and Burgess said he plans to attend the last showing — “Project Hail Mary” with Canadian actor Ryan Gosling.

Charpentier can’t attend, but said he hopes for a good turnout to the last picture show.

“It’ll be a sad day in Yellowknife when the 31st comes around.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 15, 2026.