The theaters, with a total of 1,200 seats, will be the first in Hawaii for Cinemastar, a publicly held company based in San Diego. It has six movie complexes in Southern California.

The theater building will be part of the new Coconut Grove Marketplace, being developed on the Kailua-Kona waterfront by Kona residents Brian Anderson and Mel Shapiro.

Cinemastar hopes to have the theaters opened by May, the shopping center developers said. Cinemastar officials could not be reached immediately for comment. They were attending a theater opening today in Perris, Calif., said Coconut Grove leasing agent Gregory Ogin, of Clark Realty in Kona.

The marketplace developers said the plans call for reclining seats, wider than usual aisles and advanced projection and sound systems.

Existing competition in Kona is provided by Wallace Theatre Corp. and Consolidated Amusement Co.

Coconut Grove will be developed on a 4.5-acre site north of the Royal Kona Resort, around what is now the Palm Cafe Building, the location of the Palm Cafe restaurant, Under the Palm coffee shop and Jack's Diving Locker. The developers said the building will be included in the project.

Consisting of one- and two-story buildings in what the developers call an old-Kona style, the marketplace will have 20,000 square feet for shops, restaurants and offices and more than 300 parking spaces.

Ogin said Clark Realty also is helping Cinemastar look for more Hawaii theater sites, possibly in Maui and Kauai.