Rio Rancho residents no longer will have to travel to Albuquerque to see their favorite movies. Cinemark Holdings Inc. is scheduled to open a 12-screen Century Theatre in the Village at Rio Rancho development next summer.

Cinemark said Thursday it plans to open the Century branded movie complex, with the option to add four more screens, in time for the “2011 summer blockbuster season.” The movie theaters will feature stadium seating, digital projection and sound, concession stands and a Cinemark XD “extreme digital Cinema” auditorium. The company says the XD auditorium will “exhibit the newest movies every week, including 2D and Real D-3D pictures.”   

“After many years of planning and working with the city of Rio Rancho, we are pleased to see the grading and infrastructure work having begun, and the announcement of Cinemark as the theater operator sets the tone for the first class Life-Style center at The Village,” said Robert Geringer, president of Geringer Capital, the developers of the commercial site at Unser and Westside boulevards in southern Rio Rancho. 

The Village at Rio Rancho is being planned around a Main Street-themed, pedestrian-friendly retail center adjacent to the under construction Presbyterian Hospital.  The company also will feature online, print-at-home ticketing, to make it easy for patrons to purchase tickets in advance of shows, bypassing lines at the box offices.