Digital driving out Midtown Drive-In

Midtown Drive-In’s owner Doug Freeman announced on the website of his theaters that the Midtown location likely had its last season in the spring and summer of 2013.

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The big screen at Midtown Drive-In has attracted nostalgic moviegoers from all over East Tennessee, and it’s served as the backdrop for many children who used the lush lawn as their playground before showtime. Those days, however, may be over due to the film industry’s conversion to digital distribution.

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The film industry’s decision to stop making 35mm film is cited as the reason for the likely closure.

Freeman writes at www.bluemoontheatres.com that Midtown may operate on a  limited schedule in the summer of 2014 — depending on whether any films are distributed on film next year.

This year’s line up at the drive-in, which opens every summer, showed current releases.

In addition to Midtown, Freeman also owns Parkway Drive-In in Maryville.

It, too, will likely not reopen next summer.

Midtown Drive-in operated as Roane Drive-in in the 1950s-70s.

It reopened in 1995 as Midtown Drive-In, and Freeman purchased it in 2007.