Pearl River County residents won’t have to travel far and wide anymore to experience the sights and sounds of a movie theater.

Thursday, Doug and Cathy Collins held the grand opening of their movie theater in Picayune called Acadiana Cinemas.

“We’re not a big company, we may not have fancy things but we do have a personal touch that we put into all our theaters,” Doug said to the large crowd at Thursday’s ribbon cutting.

After the ribbon cutting ceremony, Doug and Cathy opened their doors to a select group of guests.

Last year, the couple bought the local theater, formerly known as Cinema IV, which has been closed since 2009.

“We literally renovated everything inside the theater. Everything the customer sees and touches is new,” Doug said. “We installed stadium seating in our four auditoriums, all new chairs and new projection and sound equipment. We also installed new floors, wall carpet, ceiling tiles and renovated the bathrooms.”

Doug got his start in the movie theater business when he was in high school.

“During high school and college I worked at a theater,” he said. “At the time, I never thought I would own and operate a theater, it was just a school job.”

After graduating from college, he became a certified public accountant, a profession he still practices to this day.

“One of my clients owned one of the top five theater companies in the country. I got to see how they ran their business,” he said.

Years later, Doug and his wife Cathy bought and renovated their first theater in Opelousas, La.

Five years ago, they acquired two other theaters in Louisiana.

“When we purchased those two, we did a full renovation on all our theaters,” he said.

Once the renovations were complete, Doug learned about the vacant theater in Picayune.

“We looked at the marketplace and thought it would be a great place to do business,” he said.

The husband and wife duo bought the space and turned it into a fully operational theater, which officially opened Friday.

“We’re really excited about the theater and everyone we’ve worked with has been fabulous,” Doug said. “We hope everyone enjoys the theater.”

The theater is located at 997 Cooper Rd. Ticket prices are $8.50 for adults and $6.50 for children under the age of 12, seniors and matinee tickets.

The movies currently playing are “American Sniper,” “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” “The Divergent Series: Insurgent” and “McFarland U.S.A.”

Doug said customers will be able to purchase tickets online by the end of the week.

For more information about showtimes, visit acadianacinemas.com.