Celebrate Gene Wilder at 2 Valley movie theaters this weekend

The theater chain announced Thursday it’s bringing two of Wilder’s most beloved films, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and Blazing Saddles, to 55 of AMC’s almost 400 theaters around the country this Saturday and Sunday evening, as a tribute to Wilder’s life and career.

Valley Art will be showing four shows – Blazing Saddles, The Producers, Stir Crazy and Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory – every day through next Thursday.

The Metrograph theater at 7 Ludlow St.is showing 1971 classic “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” Saturday through Monday, as part of a series showcasing films based on the books of author Roald Dahl.

If you can’t make it to the special screenings this weekend, there’s another upcoming opportunity to catch one of Wilder’s popular movies in theaters this fall.

The McHenry Outdoor Theater Drive-in will show a Gene Wilder double-feature tribute with “Young Frankenstein” and “Blazing Saddles”.

Mel Brooks, who was a close friend and collaborator of Gene Wilder’s, can’t believe that the iconic actor is gone.

AMC made a similar move in April, following the death of Prince, by bringing “Purple Rain” back to the big screen at 87 locations.

Plus, Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst at Comscore, says theaters have more than that to gain by re-releasing films after the death of a revered actor or celebrity.

Much like the early Spider-Man memes that popped up on Reddit and 4chan, Wilder’s role in Willy Wonka – or to go even further, one of Wilder’s facial expressions in one scene in one particular movie – pushed memes into something that was used among the few to major corporations and brands using them to sell their products.