Star Cinema Grill is giving its Cypress location at 8920 Fry Road a major overhaul, swapping in an IMAX with Laser auditorium alongside heated recliners, massage seating and premium privacy pods. The new auditorium is expected to open November 18, and the chain says it will make the Cypress theater the only dine-in cinema in the Houston area offering IMAX.
According to the Houston Chronicle, the renovation is part of a complete luxury upgrade to the auditorium's seating and presentation technology. Founder and CEO Omar Khan said the Cypress theater combines dine-in hospitality with large-format presentation, and credited community support for letting the company keep evolving. The IMAX with Laser system itself relies on a custom 4K laser projection engine and multi-channel sound designed to produce brighter images, deeper contrast and a wider color gamut than standard xenon digital projectors, according to Digital Cinema Report.
Dine-In Meets IMAX in Houston
At Cypress, Star Cinema Grill is pairing full-service dining and hospitality with IMAX presentation.
The Cypress upgrade isn't happening in isolation. Before bringing IMAX with Laser to Cypress, the chain installed Texas's first Samsung Onyx LED cinema screen at its Richmond location, the same report notes.
Big Releases Lined Up for the New Screen
Timing-wise, the opening sets up Dune fans to catch the latest Dune film in IMAX at the Cypress location during The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping's opening weekend. Tickets for Dune: Part Three are already on sale at the Cypress theater, with showtimes beginning December 18 — after the auditorium's November opening.
Star Cinema Grill was founded in Houston in 2007 by Khan and has grown into a 13-location, 112-screen regional circuit spanning Texas and Illinois, according to GDC Technology. The chain expanded outside Texas in January 2022 when it acquired two former IPIC dine-in theaters in the Chicago suburbs of Bolingbrook and South Barrington, Illinois, per Celluloid Junkie.
Part of a Bigger Hospitality Push
Star Cinema Grill operates under sister hospitality company Culinary Khancepts, also led by Khan, which spearheaded the restoration and October 2024 reopening of Houston's historic River Oaks Theatre — a project Hoodline covered when it reopened. Culinary Khancepts also runs an extensive Houston restaurant portfolio, including Liberty Kitchen and State Fare Kitchen & Bar, according to the Houston Business Journal.
The Cypress investment puts Star Cinema Grill's focus on pairing premium presentation with dine-in hospitality on display. For a Houston-founded chain like Star Cinema Grill, pairing an official IMAX screen with massage seating and privacy pods offers a point of difference against national giants like AMC and Regal — one that, for now, only the Cypress location can claim.
