"The goal is to have 17 screens functioning in Naples. That's where we want to be. We think that's the sweet spot."
Michael Whalen, co-CEO and co-owner of Paragon Theaters, gave that number to Gulfshore Business. Seventeen screens is fewer than North Naples had at the start of September. They would also sit under one company, split between the two shopping centers that face each other across U.S. 41 at Vanderbilt Beach Road. Under Whalen's plan, Mercato gets 11 screens and The Pavilion keeps 6.
If the plan goes through, each side of the highway gets a different job. Mercato would become the main multiplex. The Pavilion would get smaller, and Whalen thinks a smaller Pavilion might work as a venue a festival can rent outright. Before any of that happens, the Naples International Film Festival arrives this month and fills the Pavilion for three days. It gives a fair preview of what that second job could look like.
Four Days Of Film Before Anything Moves
The festival runs October 22 through 25, 2026, and starts at a different venue from where it ends. Opening night is at Hayes Hall on the Artis—Naples campus. Paragon Pavilion hosts screenings and events from October 23 to 25. That split explains why some listings give a start date of the 22nd and others the 23rd.
Opening night is a shorts program called Opening Night Shorts. It includes five films: Jazz Infernal, My Dog: The Paradox, Body of Work, We Were Here and Life Goes On. The festival closes on October 25 with Superman, the 1978 film, played on screen while the Naples Philharmonic performs the score live.
Here is the ticket structure, as listed on the Artis—Naples ticketing page:
| Event | Where | Price | Where to buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening Night Shorts, Oct. 22, doors 6pm, film 7pm | Hayes Hall, Artis—Naples | $40 film only, $125 film and party, $225 film and VIP party | Artis—Naples only |
| Festival screenings, Oct. 23–25 | Paragon Pavilion | $16 standard, $20 Lux Box, plus tax and fees | Paragon or the Artis—Naples film pages |
| NIFF Film 10-Pack, standard seats | Paragon Pavilion | $140, which works out to $14 a ticket | Pavilion box office only |
| Closing Night Awards Ceremony, Superman in Concert and wrap party, Oct. 25 | Artis—Naples | From $88 | Artis—Naples only |
| Panel discussions | Festival programming | Free with a reserved ticket | Artis—Naples only |
Closing night is long. The awards ceremony starts at 5:30pm, and Superman starts at 7:30pm. The 10-pack is the only multi-film discount on the list, and the Pavilion box office is the only place that sells it. Pavilion tickets went on sale September 23. The ticketing page also lists Norris Garden table screenings, but its dates don't match the 2026 calendar, so check each film's own listing before booking one.
According to Gulfshore Business, Whalen said the festival has used The Pavilion before: "We're happy to do that this year at The Pavilion. We did that two years ago."
Why Mercato Gets The Bigger Room
On the other side of U.S. 41, the Mercato theater is about to have its third operator in roughly two years, if the lease is signed. Gulfshore Business reported that Alamo Drafthouse Cinema's last day at Mercato was September 9, 2026. It was the chain's only Florida location, and Alamo had run the 11 screens there since Silverspot Cinema left in 2024.
Paragon plans to take over the space. The deal was still described as likely, not signed, in Gulfshore Business's most recent report, which ran in early October. Paragon is aiming for December 18, the release date of the new Avengers and Dune sequels. Whalen also tied the opening to Paragon's Lux Box seats, the reclining premium seats behind the $20 ticket tier at the Pavilion this month:
"I may not be able to get those seats procured and manufactured in time for the 18th, so I don't want to open it without Lux Box, the biggest feature we have. So, if the seats are delayed, which it looks like they are, it's probably a beginning of January event now — but I'm still trying to shoot for the 18th."
Mercato is the larger room in this plan. Under the plan, it gets 11 screens fitted out the same way as Paragon's existing theater. The target is the holiday blockbuster weekend, with January as the fallback.
The Pavilion's Back Hallway Has Changed Jobs Before
The four screens Paragon would close at The Pavilion aren't part of the main theater building. They sit in a separate, freestanding 9,850-square-foot building at the rear of the shopping center's northwest corner, at 833 Vanderbilt Beach Road. A hallway near the bar connects it to the main theater.
As Whalen described it to Gulfshore Business, the space has changed hands and uses several times:
- The whole complex started out as a 10-screen theater.
- It shrank to six screens, and the discount home goods store Tuesday Morning moved into the rest.
- Paragon leased the six screens from Equity One, which owned the center before Regency Centers.
- Once Tuesday Morning's space came open, Paragon turned it back into theaters, bringing the total to 10 screens again.
"So, it's been back and forth," Whalen said. Next, the former Tuesday Morning building could leave the theater business altogether. Andrew Pressler, a leasing agent for Regency Centers, which owns The Pavilion, told the outlet that the landlord has the option to take the space back and lease it to another tenant. He added that nothing is finalized yet. Whalen said an indoor soccer operator has looked at it, and the cycle shop already in the center has considered it for extra inventory space.
Paragon might also keep the space and fill it with about six golf simulators. Whalen's reasoning is that the building already shares a kitchen, bar and restrooms with the theater through that hallway, so converting it would cost less than starting from scratch. "Here, it's intact. I already have a kitchen. I already have the bar. I'm really just putting in simulators," he said. He called it an idea Paragon is "toying with." No decision has been reported.
Under Paragon's plan, the Pavilion drops to six screens with its bar and food counter still in place.
A Six-Screen Theater Is Small Enough To Rent Whole
At this point the festival and the screen cuts start to affect each other. When Gulfshore Business asked about next year's festival, Whalen said it could go to either side of the highway:
"Each has benefits. Mercato's a little bit higher-end for the film festival people. The Pavilion could be kind of cool next year because I'll be down to six screens, and [they] could just rent the whole place out. It could actually just be the film festival itself without any other outside movies."
In that picture, Mercato is the polished option. A six-screen Pavilion becomes a theater small enough for one event to take over entirely, with no regular showings competing for lobby space. This October, the festival shares the Pavilion's 10 screens with regular first-run movies. If Whalen's plan holds, a future festival could have the whole building to itself.
He also said "there's some choices to be made," and none have been announced. Until a 2027 venue is confirmed, the Pavilion-as-festival-house idea is one option an operator has described, not a plan.
Dinner Before The Show Already Works On Both Sides
The centers' restaurant lineups were changing before the theaters did. Shake Shack opened its first Naples-area location at Mercato on February 20, 2026, as Gulfshore Business covered at the time. Two days ago, Pura Vida Miami opened an all-day café at 9118 Strada Place, Suite 8170, also at Mercato, according to the same outlet.
At The Pavilion, Sour & Dough Artisan Bakery opened in September at 893 Vanderbilt Beach Road, Unit 58. It's a family-owned bakery co-owned by Marcel Itzcovich. Gulfshore Business reported that its hours were still tentative at opening, so check them before planning a pre-screening stop around it.
For the next couple of months, the theater stretch of Mercato will be dark while its restaurants stay open. Pura Vida is opening into the period with no movies at Mercato. Across the highway, Sour & Dough sits in the center whose theater is running at full capacity, with all 10 screens operating through the holidays.
The Dates To Know From Here
As of October 12, 2026, this is the sequence as reported:
- October 22: Opening Night Shorts at Hayes Hall, Artis—Naples. Doors open at 6pm.
- October 23–25: Festival screenings at Paragon Pavilion, alongside its regular movies.
- October 25: Closing night awards, followed by Superman with the Naples Philharmonic.
- Through the holidays: The Pavilion keeps all 10 screens running, including the four rear screens in the former Tuesday Morning building.
- December 18: Paragon's target opening for 11 screens at Mercato, if the lease closes and the Lux Box seats arrive in time.
- Early January 2027: Whalen's likely fallback if the seats are late, followed by The Pavilion dropping to six screens.
Until Paragon confirms the Mercato lease, the Pavilion on Vanderbilt Beach Road is the only theater operating at this intersection.
When tenants come and go at a shopping center, nearby homeowners usually want to know how it affects them. At The Brescia Group, we follow changes like these as they happen, from a theater shuffle to a new café opening. If you'd like to see how this season's shifts around Mercato and The Pavilion fit into what your North Naples home is worth today, start with an instant home valuation.
