By Carlotta Mohamed
In celebration of its newly renovated auditoriums, College Point Multiplex Cinemas in Whitestone held a special screening Monday night of the movie “Crazy Rich Asians” hosted by breakout actor Henry Golding.
The romantic comedy filmed in Singapore, which is based on the 2013 best-selling novel by Kevin Kwan, follows a young Asian-American woman who meets the parents of her boyfriend Nick Young (played by Golding) and discovers they’re one of the richest families in Singapore.
“Crazy Rich Asians” is touted as the first contemporary movie in 25 years with an all-Asian cast, according to Golding.
Golding, who said in an interview he was honored to be cast in the “dream role,” described the film as a “phenomenal movie” and said he hopes it paves the way for more diverse casting in Hollywood. “It was far too late for a studio to get behind a story like this, but at the same time this is a small step in the right direction,” said Golding. “The goal is for Hollywood to not only look to cast more Asian actors, but also to offer more casting calls that are open to all people of races.”
Golding said the movie is not only for the Asian community, but for everyone to enjoy and love.
The British-Malaysian actor met with fans for the movie premiere in one of the theater’s renovated auditoriums, which now feature power-operated, fully reclining chairs and swivel tables for refreshments.
In an effort to provide the best cinematic experience possible, Showcase recently invested in major renovations at the College Point Multiplex Cinemas at 2855 Ulmer St., Showcase de Lux Cross County in Yonkers and Showcase Cinema de Lux City Center 15 in White Plains – all of which are now complete.
Renovations in the College Point theater auditoriums began in February and were completed in early June, according to Mark Malinowski, vice president of Global Marketing for National Amusements.
Malinowski said Showcase has installed over 1,200 power recliners with new swivel tables in the 12 auditoriums. Each auditorium was closed one-by-one for the installation of the upgraded seats.
“We’re looking at providing a fast movie going experience for our customers, so we’ve set up a reserved seating program and now our customers at College Point can either go through our app or visit showc
Malinowski said so far his company has been receiving great customer feedback on the changes and moviegoers are happy about the renovations.
“We’re happy to be doing this event at College Point because customers really want to see this movie,” said Malinowski. “We’re excited and seeing an upsale in tickets. College Point was always a successful theater, but it’s doing even better now.”
Reach reporter Carlotta Mohamed by e-mail at cmoha
