The Liberty Theatre is set to reopen in grand style tonight after being given a complete upgrade, with stars of the Bermuda Music Festival walking a pink carpet and the cocktails in full flow.

The relaunch centres around the film premiere of 'This Is It', which follows the late popstar Michael Jackson as he rehearses for an upcoming tour.

Improvements to the North Hamilton theatre had not been made since the 1980s. So when Brian Durham bought the ageing cinema in 2001, it was only a matter of figuring out the timing.

The theatre was closed for two weeks at the end of June and opened again in July with a new surround-sound system, carpeting and improved ventilation.

According to Mr. Durham, the changes have brought the Liberty into the 21st century.

"We still have the projector in case we need it, but it is 99.9 percent digital and 3D," he said. "Bringing in digital is a lot more convenient than bringing in those gigantic 35 mm reels, as now it comes on a hard drive like what you'd have on a normal computer.

"We plug it in and download it onto our digital projector."

Movie houses send an electronic key to the theatre which activates on a particular date, serving as an embargo to prevent cinemas from screening films before their launch date.

According to Mr. Durham, the activation was particularly important with a movie such as 'This Is It', with Michael Jackson fans worldwide clamouring for tickets since the movie was announced.

"It will work on the premiere date," he said.

The newly-renovated facility is also on offer to corporate clients. The screen can also be used for PowerPoint presentations.

"All you have to do is hook up your laptop and that's it," explained Mr. Durham. "And we also make it available for private screenings if it fits in with our regular scheduling."

And obtaining screening rights to 'This Is It' was a big deal. According to the theatre's manger, Phyllis Ming, it was the perfect choice for the Liberty's grand opening.

"We knew how big it was going to be and we knew that it was going to be hard to get," she said.

Added Mr. Durham: "We have an agent and we say what movies we want. The agent also recommends movies to us and we have to decide whether we want it or not some movies do great in the States but do not do well here, but then there are some movies that do well here that are flops in the States.

"There are certain companies that we have first pick and others that they [Queen Street's Specialty Theatre] have first pick of, but the majority we vie for them.

"Specialty has first pick of Warner Brothers, but we have first pick of 20th Century Fox. All others are first come, first served."