Annoying Teens Prompt New Policy at Emagine Palladium

Teens can no longer attend the newly renovated Emagine Palladium theater in Birmingham unless they’re members or accompanied by an adult after a half-dozen teens annoyed other moviegoers during a showing of “The Intern” last weekend.

Emagine co-founder Paul Glantz told the Detroit Free Press Monday that the policy is “the ultimate tough love to ensure our guests, who are paying a substantial amount for the experience, get what they pay for.”

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The new theater, located off Old Woodward at 209 Hamilton Row, opened to sell-out crowds Friday. Glantz invested millions to add a casual fare restaurant on the top floor of the old Palladium building, a full bar with delivery services and bigger, more comfortable reclining seats. The theater has only a fraction of the 12 screens of the old Palladium, which closed last year. The new iteration has five screens and 540 seats, a fifth the number in the old theater.

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Annual memberships, which cost $350 for a household, entitle those who buy them to a long list of perks, including the chance to buy advance tickets.

Glantz’s notice of the new policy on his Facebook page:

“We learned that certain miscreant teenagers (from the Palladium of old) found their way back for a return engagement at our beautiful new venue. They misbehaved throughout the entire film, despite the valiant efforts of our usher. Now candidly, that’s not going to work for us.”

Some people applauded the decision, but others took to social media and said the new iteration of the Palladium is “elitist.”

» Video screenshot via Emagine Palladium website.