Staff Photo by Matt Fields-Johnson Thursday night was the VIP opening for the new Majestic Cinema at the corner of Broad Street and 3rd Street.

And ... action.

Carmike's Majestic 12 theater officially opens today, providing downtown filmgoers with screens at least 40 feet wide and a special 21-and-up screening room called the Ovation Club.

An eager crowd, including people dressed as Batman and Marilyn Monroe, filled the theater's lobby Thursday night at a red-carpet fundraising event to introduce select Chattanoogans to the Majestic, located at the intersection of Broad Street and Third Avenue, before its official opening.

"I just know (the theater) is going to be a wonderful neighbor to the museum," said Jayne Griffin, director of education at the nearby Creative Discovery Museum. "It adds to the excitement of an already great city."

Proceeds from the $25 tickets benefited six local organizations including the museum.

One of the most-discussed elements of the theater is the 56-seat Ovation Club, which features reclining leather seats and a waitstaff to bring food and drinks -- including alcoholic beverages -- directly to moviegoers age 21 and up.

The menu includes choices such as Asian wings with Thai peanut sauce and crab cakes with lemon dill sauce, restaurant manager Laurie Eismeier said. The theater's beer license is in hand, she said, and the wine license is pending.

Seating for the Ovation Club will be $5 to $6 more than the base ticket price, officials said.

April Warren, who attended Thursday's event, said she is looking forward to seeing more independent films at the Majestic.

"I want to see 'Precious' if they have it," Ms. Warren said.

The Majestic also is set to be the nation's first free-standing green theater, officials said.

"It keeps up with our tradition of building sustainable buildings," said Kim White, president of River City Co., the nonprofit company in charge of downtown development.

Energy-efficient LED lights in the lobby are on sensors to keep them dim and use less energy during daylight hours, Ms. White said. A 10,000-gallon holding tank will collect rainwater from the roof and use it to flush the toilets in the building, she said.

And some green aspects of the Majestic are things that will go unnoticed, said Jeff Cannon, director of the Greenspaces initiative.

"It's built in the center of a downtown, so you're not adding parking," he said. "And it's built in a way that it can be adaptively re-used down the road."

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification from the U.S. Green Building Council is expected in about four weeks, officials said.