In a move that caught the community and employees by surprise, Laie Cinemas showed its final films on April 17, and began moving out the next day. A Wallace spokesman said the sudden decision was driven by economics.

Laie Cinemas theater

The move by the Wallace family-owned Holiday Theatres, which has operated Laie Cinemas, leaves Koolauloa and North Shore residents without a theater anywhere between Temple Valley and Mililani for the first time in over 25 years.

Long before Laie Theater began in Laie Shopping Center, oldtimers can tell interesting stories about going to movies at the old Kahuku Theater. In those days, too, the next closest theaters were in Haleiwa, since replaced by a McDonald's, Waialua, and Wahiawa.

A Laie Shopping Center spokesman said they are talking with another company interested in trying to reopen the theater.