If battleships are christened with champagne, new movie theaters are welcomed with a sprinkling of popcorn on their floors, and that's what happened at the Cinemark in Robinson.

Doors to the 16-screen theater open to the public today, but sneak previews gave invited friends, neighbors and the media the chance to sample (and sometimes spill) the salty snack, toss back a Coke and slip into an auditorium and size up the leg room, comfort of the leathery seats, crispness of the picture and quality of the sound.

By all accounts, Cinemark passed with flying colors and is ready for its close-up and first paying customers today.

The theater is in the new Settlers Ridge Center development, much of it still under construction, on a hill overlooking the Parkway West off the Ridge Road exit about 10 miles from Downtown.

Sixteen movies, including "Couples Retreat," "Bright Star," "The September Issue" and "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," are scheduled to screen 73 times today. Radio remotes, giveaways and, on Saturday, face painting, balloon animals and mascot appearances, will mark the first weekend.

The theater has a dozen different prices, from discount Tuesdays ($5.25 all day) to early-bird specials ($5 for the first matinee seven days a week) to regular adult admission ($6 before 6 p.m., $8.25 most evenings, $8.75 Friday and Saturday nights).

All are posted at the box office and at www.cinemark.com, which also allows online ticketing, with pickup at a station in the lobby.

"We're trying to provide something for everyone, especially during these difficult economic times," James Meredith, Cinemark's vice president of marketing and communications, said before an informal tour.

"We want to make sure that anybody who wants to go to the movies can afford to go -- whether it be the very first show of the day for the $5 price or Tuesday, a day that's typically slow. If you can get out on a date night on a Tuesday and come, for example, it's a great bargain."

The weekends are pricier, but Meredith says, "We still do offer the early-bird matinees on the weekends, as well. Just because a brand new movie comes out doesn't mean we can't provide it at a price that everybody can afford."

The highest prices are for Cinemark's XD large-screen digital format with a screen stretching from floor to ceiling and wall and wall. That auditorium, which can show 3-D movies (as can one other theater), is outfitted with 28 speakers and 240 slightly roomier seats.

The theater can accommodate about 2,300 patrons and features now-standard stadium seating along with a self-service concession stand in the lobby that allows patrons to pick up bags of Orville Redenbacher popcorn, add their own topping around the corner, select and fill cups with drinks, opt for ice cream or candy and pay before turning left or right to the auditoriums.

The Robinson theater has a red illuminated sign out front, smart-looking murals inside and out, and new posters or reproductions of vintage ones lining the walls.

A geometric patterned carpet runs throughout, with eight theaters on each side of the main lobby, a small arcade with games, restrooms in coffee colors and a birthday party room with a glass wall for easy observation. The auditoriums also have rectangular glass panels on the doors, allowing moviegoers to get a glimpse of the films inside.

The Robinson theater is the sixth new location this year for Cinemark, headquartered in Plano, Texas. It is the world's second largest movie exhibitor with 400-plus theaters in the States and 14 other countries.

"Here in Pittsburgh, we have a theater up in Monaca and at Pittsburgh Mills, and this area right here is just a perfect area for one of our brand new theaters. ... Just about everybody we've spoken to has echoed that thought," said Meredith.

The arrival of Cinemark could turn up the heat on nearby Showcase Cinemas West, which opened three decades ago and boasts large but older auditoriums.

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