Beloved Fleur Cinema, 'coolest movie theater in Iowa,' set to reopen. Find out when.

Fleur Cinema & Café, once named the “coolest movie theater in Iowa,” is set to reopen later this year after closing its doors during the pandemic more than three years ago.

The Des Moines theater, at 4545 Fleur Drive, signed an agreement with Fridley Theatres, an Iowa theater company that operates 17 locations and 95 screens across the state, to reopen, according to a news release.

Fridley Theatres will operate and manage the cinema while Coppola Enterprises will continue to own the movie theater, Russell Vannorsdel, president of Fridley Theatres, told the Des Moines Register in a phone call Wednesday.

When will Fleur Cinema & Café reopen?

The theater will reopen before Oct. 1, according to a news release.

What is the Fleur Cinema & Café?

The Des Moines theater was known for showing arthouse and indie films. Michael Coppola opened the cinema in 2001 and previously operated it. It joined the now-closed Sierra 3 Theatres in West Des Moines and Varsity Cinema in the Drake neighborhood as the only “area movie houses devoted to non-mainstream fare,” the Des Moines Register reported on Oct. 26, 2001. Fleur Cinema also featured unusual concessions for a movie theater, from grilled sandwiches to Champagne.

“I cannot think of a better company to be the steward of this theatre into the future,” Coppola said in the news release. “I knew Bob Fridley, and he was one of the kindest men I’ve ever met. A true gentleman who loved the movies and embodied the business.”

In 2017, Cosmopolitan named the Fleur the “coolest movie theater in Iowa” and said the locally owned business screens films Des Moines residents “can’t always find at a typical chain.”

What kinds of programming did the Fleur Cinema & Café offer?

Fleur Cinema hosted special events like the 48 Hour Film Project, an annual competition in which filmmaking teams create short films to screen at cinemas. It also hosted a benefit night in 2005 when ticket sales went to the American Red Cross to help victims of Hurricane Katrina, according to Register archives. Wild Rose Independent Film Festival, an international film festival in Iowa that claims to be the “longest running international film festival” in the state, was held at Fleur Cinema as well.

How did Fridley Theatres get involved with Fleur Cinema?

Vannorsdel said he and Coppola began having conversations about a partnership nearly a year ago about how they might reopen the cinema. He said that Coppola was looking for “consistent art product” to return and recognized that operating a movie theater can be challenging.

“Why not partner with somebody that operates theaters across the state?” Vannorsdel said.

Fridley Theatres will handle all day-to-day operations of the cinema, including booking films. The cinema will use Coppola’s previous film bookers, Vannorsdel said.

“We look forward to running the Fleur like (Coppola) did and then maintaining that brand and that image even though it’ll be operated and managed by Fridley Theatres,” Vannorsdel said.

Will Fleur Cinema & Café offer the same types of films and programming as before?

Yes, according to Vannorsdel.

The goal is to continue booking the same type of movies Fleur movie-goers have come to expect from the cinema and provide the same experience patrons had with Fleur Cinema before its closure in 2020.

How long did it remain closed?

The theater closed its doors on March 13, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. As other theaters in Iowa and across the nation gradually reopened in the second half of 2020 or in 2021, the Fleur remained closed save for private screenings. Coppola told Axios Des Moines in March 2022 that the biggest struggle for the cinema is “having enough films to show.”

Rebecca Fons, director of programming at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago, told the Register in May 2022 that Coppola’s comment was “interesting because there is still a lot of shifting sands with the new films.”

Many theaters saw the release of "Tenet" — the science fiction, action, spy thriller film written, directed and co-produced by Christopher Nolan and his wife, Emma Thomas, in September 2020 — as a sign that it was time to reopen.

"The entire release calendar is still like an old, creaky ship that’s still settling. But films are coming back, they’re being slated and they’ve held onto their dates too,” she said.

Will there be any changes to Fleur Cinema & Café?

The four-screen cinema will operate only three of its screens when it reopens, Vannorsdel said. Expect a few changes with concessions, but there are no immediate plans to make other changes, he said. Fridley Theatres will begin to determine what guests want after the cinema reopens.

Paris Barraza covers entertainment, lifestyle and arts at the Des Moines Register. Reach her at pbarraza@registermedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @ParisBarraza.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines movie theater Fleur Cinema to reopen