Until early September, the corner of Vanderbilt Beach Road and US 41 had 21 movie screens on two sides of the highway. Mercato had 11 upstairs and The Pavilion had 10 across the road. For anyone driving west from Pelican Marsh for a film, that meant two lobbies, two menus and two sets of showtimes within sight of each other. This holiday season the corner has 10 screens, all of them at The Pavilion. When Mercato's theater reopens, the corner will still come up short of where it was.
How Mercato's second floor went dark
Alamo Drafthouse's 11-screen dine-in cinema at Mercato ran for less than two and a half years. In April 2024 it replaced Silverspot Cinema, the space's longtime tenant, and opened with a full food and cocktail menu plus a nine-hole miniature golf course. A few months later, California-based Sony Pictures Experiences bought Alamo, and the mini golf was eventually retired. Gulfshore Business reported that the Naples location underperformed for the chain. An Alamo spokesperson set the last day of operations as September 9, 2026.
The space didn't wait long for a new operator. On October 21, Mercato's leasing agent announced that Paragon Theaters, a South Florida-based national chain, will run the 33,700-square-foot second-floor cinema. The target opening is early 2027. The same company already runs the theater across the highway, and that is why the corner's screen count won't climb back to 21.
The Pavilion is carrying the whole holiday season
Paragon at The Pavilion, 833 Vanderbilt Beach Road, is the corner's only indoor cinema between now and the Mercato opening. It is a 10-screen operation, and Paragon has said all 10 stay open through the holidays. Co-CEO Michael Whalen explained the reasoning to Gulfshore Business:
"We are trying to rationalize the screens in the marketplace and how many we have. So, ideally, I would like to have 11 screens at Mercato and six at Pavilion, so for a total of 17 screens."
In that interview, Whalen said the four screens slated to close would keep running, "probably minimally," until the end of the year. He also said Paragon would operate all 10 Naples screens through the holiday. When he spoke, he expected the Mercato theater to open in December or January. The lease announcement that followed set the target at early 2027.
| Screens at Vanderbilt Beach Road and US 41 | Mercato | The Pavilion | Corner total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before September 9, 2026 | 11 | 10 | 21 |
| Holiday season 2026 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| After Mercato reopens, per Paragon's stated plan | 11 | 6 | 17 |
For now, the Pavilion's best seats are in the Lux Box section. Those are heated, zero-gravity recliners with food and drinks brought to your seat. The Pavilion menu includes beer, wine and liquor. Paragon advertises $5 Ticket Tuesdays and has said Mercato's prices will match its nearby locations. Its Diamond Rewards program advertises $6 Wednesday tickets and 10% off concessions, and points add up toward $5 rewards. One theater is now absorbing a full holiday season's demand, so on a busy weekend it makes sense to pick seats ahead of time.
The four screens behind the bar
The screens Paragon plans to give up aren't in the main theater. They sit in a separate 9,850-square-foot freestanding building at the rear of The Pavilion's northwest corner, connected to the main Paragon theater by a hallway near the bar.
That building has gone back and forth before. Whalen told Gulfshore Business the whole complex began as a 10-screen theater. It was later cut to six screens when Tuesday Morning, the discount home goods retailer, moved in. Paragon then leased the six-plex. When the Tuesday Morning space opened up, Paragon turned it back into theaters and brought the count to 10 again. In the same article, a leasing agent for Regency Centers, The Pavilion's owner, said the center may get the chance to take back part of the theater space again.
So the Mercato reopening is also likely to change what the back corner of The Pavilion is used for.
What the 17-screen version adds
The corner will have fewer screens than before, but the Mercato side is being rebuilt with formats neither theater has offered. Paragon's plans for the second floor at Mercato include:
- Two Axis15 Extreme premium large-format auditoriums with tilted screens, 4K laser projection and Dolby Atmos sound
- Lux Box heated recliners with full table service
- MyPi Pizza, Paragon's in-house pizza concept, with dough made fresh daily
- A full bar with craft cocktails, wine and beer
- The Director's Room, a private theater you can rent for personal screenings, sports viewing parties, corporate events and other gatherings
The Director's Room is the most notable addition. After the four rear screens close, the corner will have fewer seats for wide releases and a new private room for watch parties. A family that wants a room to itself for a birthday screening or a playoff game will be able to book one, inside the same building as Mercato's restaurants.
Paragon has also said it is hiring for several positions at the Mercato cinema.
On the third Tuesday, both sides of US 41 show a movie
The upstairs theater is closed, but Mercato hasn't stopped showing movies. Its free Films Al Fresco series runs in the Piazza on the third Tuesday of every month, starting at about 5:45 p.m. Lawn chairs and blankets are encouraged. Coolers and outside drinks are not allowed.
The schedule for the rest of the season:
- November 17: A Christmas Story
- December 15: the 2000 version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas
- January 19: Jumanji: Next Level
- February 16: How to Train Your Dragon, the 2025 version
Every one of those dates is a Tuesday, the same night as Paragon's $5 tickets at The Pavilion. On those four nights the corner offers two movies: a free holiday classic on the lawn and a new release indoors for five dollars, with US 41 in between. Mercato notes that its events can change with the weather, so check the event page on a cloudy afternoon.
A December evening built around the Piazza
While the second floor waits for Paragon, the busiest part of Mercato this season is the Piazza.
The annual Tree Lighting Ceremony & Holiday Cirque Experience is Wednesday, December 2, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. The program includes live music, cirque and dance performances and a holiday market, and the tree is lit at 7 p.m. Admission and garage parking are both free.
The next night, Thursday, December 3, is a Mercato Nights music event. Another one follows on January 7. Santa Paws, Mercato's holiday version of its monthly PAWty in the Piazza, is Thursday, December 17, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. It includes holiday pet photos with Santa and live music. Cars and Coffee is also on the calendar each month through December 20.
Put those on a calendar next to Films Al Fresco and Mercato has an outdoor event at least once a week for much of December. Paragon's $5 Tuesday is across the highway, and the indoor screens at Mercato open in early 2027.
If you split your year between Pelican Marsh and somewhere up north, changes like this are easy to miss from a distance. A screen count that drops from 21 to 17 or a new private theater for rent can quietly change how your evenings go when you get back. Following those details across North Naples is part of how I advise clients on where and how they want to spend the season. If you'd like to talk through what's changing near your part of town before you arrive, Cheena Chandra is glad to help. Let's Connect.
