FRANKLIN County, Va—
Movie theaters from coast to coast are converting from the old 35 millimeter film to digital.
And one theater owner near Smith Mountain Lake says both the digital conversion and the addition of 3D movies have created a gold mine of sorts.
Lee Willard owns a number of businesses, including the Westlake Cinema in Hardy.
He says June was his best month EVER in terms of sales since the theater opened in 2006.
“The overall comments that we're getting from the people that are coming to the theater are just exceptional. We've never seen this level of just fully embracing Westlake Cinema that we've had in the last couple months since this conversion," he says.
Willard says an increase in concession sales also contributed to an impressive bottom line.
