The Crossings Cinema near Hopewell closed Sunday night, a victim of the faltering economy and a decline in the quality of the movies, its co-owner said.

"You look at what movies are coming along, and it looks like it's more of the same. I don't see anything in there that's going to be exceptional enough that it looks like [business] is going to be better," said Roy Tompkins, the independent theater's co-owner.

In its latest incarnation, the twin-screen Crossings had been in business almost exactly eight years. It was located in the Crossings Center, close to Fort Lee.

"Our target audience has been hit by what's been going on. . . . We have a lot of loyal people. We tried to prevent it, but it just wasn't enough. I can understand their situation, because it's tough on them, too," Tompkins said.

The theater was notable for charging less than other area theaters for first-run movies -- adult tickets were $6, compared with $9 for other local theaters. Concession prices were lower, too.

"First-run movies at affordable prices was our motto," said Tompkins, who has been in the business more than 40 years, beginning as an usher at the Capitol Theater. He said he did reasonably well this year with "The Dark Knight," "Kung Fu Panda," "Wall*E" and the year's biggest hit for him, "Meet the Browns."

"Even if you have five good pictures, you can't live off that for a year," he said. "The industry is in decline. There's no doubt about that."