Where do you see a movie at Mercato this November? Alamo Drafthouse closed its North Naples cinema on Sept. 9, and those 11 screens have been dark since. The movies that remain are in the Piazza, at street level and under the open sky. They're free, and they start at about 5:45 in the evening.
The arrangement won't last long. A new operator has signed for the upstairs space, and when it opens early next year, Mercato will have both an indoor and an outdoor screen again. Until then, the Piazza is Mercato's only movie screen. The Pavilion across U.S. 41 is running its 10 screens for what its operator expects to be the last time.
Why the second floor stays dark through the holidays
Alamo took over the space in April 2024 from Silverspot Cinema, which had been there for years. According to Naples Press, the Naples location underperformed for the chain. In the same report, Lauren Ness, a spokesperson for Jamestown, the company that leases and manages Mercato, said "Entertainment continues to be an important part of our vision for the property."
On Oct. 21, Mercato's leasing agent named the new tenant. Gulfshore Business reported that Paragon Theaters will run an 11-screen cinema in the 33,700-square-foot second-floor space and expects to open in early 2027.
Paragon had wanted to open sooner. Michael Whalen, Paragon's co-CEO and co-owner, told Naples Press he was aiming for Dec. 18, the release date of the new Avengers and Dune sequels. He also said he wouldn't open until every auditorium had Paragon's Lux Box seating. "If the seats are delayed, which it looks like they are, it's probably a beginning of January event now," he said. The early-2027 date in the lease announcement matches that.
That leaves Mercato with no indoor cinema for the whole holiday stretch. As it happens, the outdoor space that now handles movie nights has been ready for exactly a year.
The Piazza turns one this week
Mercato's Piazza expansion broke ground in July 2025. The rebuilt space, with a new covered performance stage, seating and shade, held its grand opening on Nov. 5, 2025. The plans called for tripling the old 3,000-square-foot Piazza between Bravo Italian Kitchen and Narrative Coffee Roasters and moving movies, concerts and other events off the small lawn east of Rocco's Tacos and into one central spot.
"The goal is kind of to bring everything centralized," Ness, then with North American Properties, told Naples Press while the project was still being planned. In its first season, the Piazza shared Mercato's movie business with a full cinema upstairs. This season it has the movies to itself.
Two holiday films before the new cinema opens
Films Al Fresco runs on the third Tuesday of every month. It's free and starts at about 5:45 p.m. in the Piazza. Bring lawn chairs or blankets. Coolers and outside drinks aren't allowed.
| Date | Film | Upstairs cinema |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday, Nov. 17 | A Christmas Story | Dark |
| Tuesday, Dec. 15 | How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) | Dark |
| Tuesday, Jan. 19 | Jumanji: Next Level | Paragon's early-2027 window |
| Tuesday, Feb. 16 | How to Train Your Dragon | Paragon's early-2027 window |
Only the November and December screenings are sure to fall while the second floor is closed. Both are holiday films. Mercato notes that its events can change with the weather and posts updates on the event page.
The movie nights sit inside a busy season in the same space. Mercato's calendar lists these dates through mid-December:
- Nov. 5: Mercato Nights Music Series with Sweet Fleet, a Fleetwood Mac tribute
- Nov. 7: Taste of Mercato, with nine restaurants, fall cocktails and live music
- Nov. 14: Sounds on Strada begins, with local musicians every Saturday night through May 29
- Nov. 15: Cars and Coffee 239, which also returns Dec. 20
- Nov. 19: PAWty in the Piazza, with the Caloosahatchee Philharmonic
- Dec. 2: Tree Lighting Ceremony and Holiday Cirque Experience
- Dec. 3: Mercato Nights with Empire Strikes Brass
- Dec. 6: Festivals of Speed
- Dec. 8: Hanukkah Celebration on the Event Lawn, with the Jewish Federation of Greater Naples
- Dec. 17: Santa Paws at PAWty in the Piazza
The tree lighting was part of the Piazza plan from the start. While the expansion was being designed, Ness told Naples Press the hope was to hold the tree lighting in the central plaza and move the tree slightly to make room for the new stage. Beeline, a bar serving ales and spirits whose Mercato listing went up Oct. 5, is a newer stop for an evening there.
Across U.S. 41, The Pavilion's last season at 10 screens
For a first-run film this season, Paragon at The Pavilion, 833 Vanderbilt Beach Road, sits just across U.S. 41. This is also the season when that theater's layout is set to change.
Paragon plans to cut The Pavilion from 10 screens to six once Mercato opens, for a total of 17 screens in Naples between the two sites. "We'll continue to operate the 10 screens at Naples through the holiday," Whalen told Naples Press. The four screens set to close are in a separate 9,850-square-foot building at the back of the shopping center's northwest corner. That building connects to the main theater through a hallway near the bar. It once housed Tuesday Morning, and it has switched back and forth between retail and movie screens over the years.
Nobody has decided what goes there next. Andrew Pressler, a leasing agent for The Pavilion's owner, Regency Centers, said "Nothing's really fleshed out completely 100%." Whalen mentioned an indoor soccer operator and the center's cycle shop as possible tenants. He also floated keeping the space himself for about six golf simulators that would share the theater's existing kitchen and bar.
Since Mercato's opening date has moved from Dec. 18 to early 2027, The Pavilion will be Paragon's only North Naples location the week the Avengers and Dune sequels come out. Sour & Dough Artisan Bakery, which opened at The Pavilion in early September, is also a recent addition to that side of the road.
What returns upstairs in the new year
When the second floor reopens, it won't look like the Alamo years. Gulfshore Business reports these plans:
- Lux Box seating, with heated recliners and full table service
- MyPi Pizza, Paragon's in-house concept, with dough made fresh daily, plus a full bar with craft cocktails, wine and beer
- Two Axis15 Extreme premium large-format auditoriums, with tilted screens, 4K laser projection and Dolby Atmos sound
- The Director's Room, a private theater for rent for personal screenings, sports viewing parties and other gatherings
Ticket prices will match Paragon's nearby locations, including its $5 Ticket Tuesdays promotion. Once it opens, the free Piazza screening on the third Tuesday of each month will run alongside Paragon's $5 Tuesdays. The January screening of Jumanji: Next Level may be the first Films Al Fresco night with a working cinema upstairs again.
Until then, the Nov. 17 and Dec. 15 screenings are the only movie nights at Mercato.
If you'd like to talk through how changes at Mercato and The Pavilion look from your own front door, Abby Fraga would be glad to hear from you. Let's Connect.
