The Franklin Theatre Grand Opening
Franklin, Tennessee

The Franklin Theatre, located in historic downtown Franklin, Tennessee, will host a grand re-opening on the weekend of June 3rd-5th. First opened in 1937, the Theatre will host a 1930s themed street party on June 3rd in downtown Franklin and a late-night screening of "Gone With the Wind".

Outdoor festivities — planned from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. June 3rd - include extended hours for Franklin’s downtown merchants and restaurants as well as free live entertainment. A swing band will perform on a stage constructed adjacent to the downtown Square. Sidewalk beer vendors will cater to adults with proper I.D. And an old-fashioned speakeasy will operate in Gray’s Drug Store nearby.

Giant movie screens will create Franklin’s version of a Hollywood back lot. Side streets where Fourth Avenue crosses Main will feature free simultaneous showings of two classic ’30s films — the original “King Kong” (1933), starring Depression-era diva Fay Wray, and everyone’s favorite musical fantasy “The Wizard of Oz” (1939) in Technicolor. Both are listed on the American Film Institute’s (AFI) top 100 movies of all time.

Inside the Franklin Theatre, moviegoers will enjoy a late-night screening of “Gone With the Wind,” the 1939 classic starring Hollywood legends Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh. The nearly four-hour epic, set in the South during the Civil War and Reconstruction, won 10 Academy Awards and is the leading ‘30s film listed on the AFI’s top 100.

Friday night’s screening of “Gone With the Wind” is open to the public and begins at 9:30 p.m. CDT, immediately following a red-carpet reception for major donors who helped underwrite the Franklin Theatre’s multi-million-dollar restoration. An additional showing will be at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. Tickets in the 290-seat venue will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Rounding out event for the theater’s grand re-opening weekend will be a Saturday morning kids’ movie on June 4, “Charlotte’s Web” (2006), followed by the additional showing of “Gone With the Wind” in the evening. On Sunday, June 5, the theater will offer two evening screenings of the film classic “Casablanca” (1942), starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.

For more information and to purchase tickets, see: www.franklintheatre.com