Atlantic Station’s cinema set for expansion, intro of ultra-realistic 4DX experience

Changes around Atlantic Station’s centralized green space are set to continue in dramatic fashion befitting a blockbuster.

As part of ongoing efforts to “create Midtown’s core entertainment district,” officials with Atlantic Station owner Hines announced today that Georgia’s highest-performing movie theater will soon be expanded and upgraded.

The remodel will include a four-auditorium VIP area and the introduction of the region’s first hyper-realistic 4DX theater. Think: chairs that move in concert with movie storylines, along with simulated weather and other effects, and “scent modules”—all designed to replicate what characters might feel, see, and smell as stories unfold.

On the Regal exterior, expect a remodeled facade and signage facing the district’s Central Park, which is being expanded to nearly double its former size.

Also, existing ticket windows will be swapped with “an arrival experience,” officials said.

Atlantic Station/HGOR

Four existing auditoriums will get the VIP treatment—plush, electric recliners and more spacious walkways.

“Part of experiential retail is appealing to a visitor’s senses, which the Regal remodel will do across all fronts,” Nick Garzia, Hines’s director of retail leasing, said in a press release. “Moviegoers are going to get the whole experience of feeling like they are a part of the film, and that changes the way we’ll think about the moviegoing experience in the future.”

We’ve asked for information on a project timeline and will update this post should that come.

Officials have said changes to Central Park are on track to finish later this year in early 2020.

Beyond Atlantic Station’s park area, other noticeable projects include the $189 million Atlantic Yards, a brick-clad office venture going vertical near the Connector, and the ballyhooed T3 West Midtown, the city’s first office stack to be built of timbers.

Elsewhere, several new retailers and restaurants—Bowlero, Forever 21, Hobnob Neighborhood Tavern, Pho 24, and NaanStop—have been announced as part of Atlantic Station’s refresh.