Ever wish you could rent a movie theater just for yourself and your closest friends? If you’re seeking the multiplex-and-buttered-popcorn experience, the major cinema chains have you covered. But if you’re inclined towards a swankier, special-night-out vibe, a new project from Alamo Drafthouse Cinema chain founder Tim League might be just what you’re looking for.

Enter Metro Private Cinema, a soon-to-open 20-screen complex in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood that caters to cinephiles eager to event-ize their movie-going experience. Choose your theater (they can seat between four and 20 people), your movie, your gourmet menu (blue prawns and summer risotto, anyone?) and you’re off to the movies.

The concept answers a common criticism of today’s chain cineplexes: that they need to further prioritize customer service and upgrade the experience that they offer in order to compete with Netflix, YouTube and the alluring comfort of one’s couch.

“It’s a night out,” League told The Hollywood Reporter of his new venture in an interview on Thursday. “If you’re going to casually catch The Legend of Ochi, you’re probably going to go to the IFC Center, you’re going to go to the Alamo, to the AMC. But if you want to have what we’re trying to create, a very special experience with dinner, friends and a movie, I think there’s an audience for it here.”

When the theater opens, viewers will be able to watch recently-released summer blockbusters like F1 or Superman or choose from the theater’s eclectic library of older movies, featuring titles like 2001’s Donnie Darko, 1985’s Back to the Future and 2009’s Dogtooth. The theater maintains that if you want to screen a movie that isn’t in their library, they’ll get it for you, for an extra fee.

The food on offer for these viewing sessions will be a step above your traditional movie theater fare. Upon opening, there will be a late summer menu (featuring stone fruits, heirloom tomatoes and summer squash) and a garlic-themed dinner available featuring starters, main dishes and desserts served family-style before the film begins.

League says that the theater’s chef has also created “seven or eight culinary cinematic adventures” custom-made for titles like Superman, Paddington 2 and Goodfellas. “Whenever we’ve done that type of thing at Alamo, it’s been some of my favorite moments and we’re just trying to go even further [here],” he said.

The experience won’t come cheap: The four-person theater runs a cool $200 for a four-hour booking while the 12-person theater costs $600. Food costs $100 a person. If you want alcoholic beverages, that will be at least $50 more.

The concept began with a conversation between League and Homeaway founder Brian Sharples around 2016, when League was still CEO of Alamo Drafthouse, a position he stepped away from in 2020. “[Sharples] had a big entertainment media room and had a great presentation and people kept on inviting themselves over for movies or the Super Bowl or the Oscars. He’s like, ‘I think there’s something here,’” League said.

League built a test environment in 2017 but the idea remained on the backburner until around 2021, he says. Construction primarily took place this year, with Alamo Drafthouse serving as one of the project’s backers. (League is still a strategic advisor at the company, which sold to Sony in 2024.)

League says New York City made sense for the initial location given its dense urban environment and the fact that the vast majority of residents don’t have the space for a great entertainment setup in their own homes. Could more theaters open with the same concept? League says yes: He’s focused on the Chelsea location as an initial experiment, but “the intent is to open more.”

Still, Chelsea has to open first: A date hasn’t yet been nailed down, but a representative for Metro Private Cinema says it will likely happen in late August or early September.

The project opens at a time of significant uncertainty over the future of in-person moviegoing in the U.S. Commentators seem to go back and forth: Is cinema dying? Or do the promising box office numbers of mid-2025 foretell a rebound of shared viewing experiences? As of last year, major cinema chains promised to invest $2.2 billion in upgrades to improve the experience, but then this year AMC Theatres also added commercials to the time historically reserved only for movie trailers.

League is betting on the appeal of an upscale night out at the movies. And Metro Private Cinema’s food, drinks and curated film selection all seem to simply put a glossy spin on Alamo Drafthouse, which now has 45 locations across the country.

But in one crucial way the new location stands apart. “You can text, as much as it pains me to say it. You can talk,” says League, nodding to Alamo’s famous “no talking, no texting” policy. After all, these are private screenings where the hosts set the rules, backed up by guest attendants who will cater to each room’s bespoke needs. “It’s just you’re a worse person if you do.”