In 2023, Harkins Theatres announced a new concept: Harkins BackLot, a movie-studio-inspired entertainment venue with bowling lanes, a video game arcade and a sports bar with jumbo viewing screens. The first BackLot, originally set to open this year, will launch in the Shops at Norterra in March 2025, said CEO Mike Bowers.
The second-ever Harkins BackLot will be at the Verrado Marketplace, according to a Nov. 20 press conference held to mark the ground-breaking of the 500,000-square-foot shopping mall in Buckeye.
Set to open in spring 2026, Harkins BackLot will combine a movie theater with at least 12 bowling lanes, video games, electronic darts and a “VR experience,” Bowers said.
The venue will also include a sports bar with three large screens that will serve elevated bar food like pizza, burgers and flatbreads.
Harkins BackLot is the Scottsdale-based company’s first foray into more than just movies. The Buckeye location will feature a movie theater in the same building as the entertainment venue, unlike the Harkins BackLot in Happy Valley, which is separate from the movie theater.
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“We think it’s just a great complement to the movie theater experience,” Bowers said.
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