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Customize Your Home Theater:
Movie Mylar Lightbox

Have you ever heard of a movie mylar? Many probably haven't. I happened to stumble across the name as I was surfing the Internet for something a couple of years ago.

For those of you that don't know, movie mylar is the name commonly used for those inserts you see at the ticket office outside of a movie theater that showcases what movies are playing at the theater and the showing times. You'll also find them above the entrance of the room where each movie is being viewed. Mylar is the plastic material used for printing the inserts. Hence the name.

The boxes that house these inserts are backlit so you can see the image in the dark or in a place with dim lighting. Many typically have images on them on the left and/or the right with the title of the movie in the middle. Movie mylars often come in a few different sizes -- the most common are 5x13 and 5x25 (in inches).

Mylars are relatively inexpensive and can be found in a few places. A handful of commercial websites sell mylars and the boxes exclusively. I've also found ebay to be a good source for these items; often you can find lots for sale with a nice variety of mylars included in each lot (click here if you're interested in having a look at what is currently on ebay). Also, you could simply ask someone at the movie theater to see if they have any that they would give to you that they are no longer using.

I decided to build the box myself and I feel that I was able to achieve a clean, professional look fairly easily and without spending a lot of money (see pic below). I purchased some wood at Home Depot along with some black interior grade paint with a slightly dull finish. I also purchased a small sheet of plexiglass to use as the facing for the mylar. I already had some fine grade sanding paper around the house to ensure all the joints were smooth, as well as the screws to bond the pieces together.

For the lighting, I first bought some items at my local Radio Shack to create a battery-operated switch that would power some small lightbulbs mounted on the interior of the box. To help brighten the light, I placed some aluminum foil on the back interior of the box to better reflect the light. This lighting method worked fairly well and wasn't very expensive (just a few bucks).

Later on, I happened to find some really cheap battery-operated lights at a local thrift store (Big Lots). I hadn't thought of this before, so I figured I try them out. While it didn't provide me with the opportunity to utilize a switch on the outside, it did provide a stronger lighting source. Since it's fairly easy for me to lift up the plexiglass to turn the unit on, I didn't think this was too bad a compromise for better lighting. I actually use both lights together.

You'll really enjoy the effect that this has on your home theater. The movie mylar lightbox can give a grand appeal to the entrance of your home theater. Dim the lights, invite your guests, and showcase the movie you're showing with style and flair! Before long, you may be able to start charging admission....Just kidding, of course. In all seriousness, we do hope you found this idea to be an interesting design element to your home theater.

Movie Mylar Lightbox → Home Theater Idea Central