Ralph and Carlene Freehauf could borrow a line from the movie, “Field of Dreams”: “Build it and they will come.”

The couple’s five-screen indoor Cinemagic Theater opened this weekend on South  Jefferson Street. Hundreds lined up for tickets to see “Da Vinci Code,” “Over the Hedge,” and “X-Men III.”

It was a good opening weekend for having just three of the five movie “houses” completed. Carlene Freehauf said that they will hold the Grand Opening in June when the other two smaller houses are complete and when the adjacent drive-in theater opens for the season.

“We don’t know the exact ticket count, but we did real well,” said Carlene Freehauf. “‘Over the Hedge’ sold out; ‘Da Vinci Code’ did pretty good, and ‘X-Men’ did very good. All in all it was an excellent opening night. We are really pleased with the turnout and so happy all the people got out to come. It was a great night.”

But even though Friday night’s opening was not the biggie to come, several people in line said they have been eagerly anticipating the theater opening and feel it will be good for Athens.

Bobby and Debra Maplesden of Athens said they thought the theater would be good for the overall economy of the city.

“I’m really excited about this, I hope they do well,” said Debra. “One of the excuses we’ve had for not eating in town was that we might as well eat in Huntsville if we’re going there to see a movie.”

Justin Haslacker, a new Elkmont High School graduate in line with his father to buy tickets for “Over the Hedge,” said that he thinks the theater is a good idea for young people in the community.

“If I stay around here I’ll be coming here quite a lot,” said Haslacker. “It’s better than driving all the way to Madison  County.”

Nancy and Leonard Clines of Athens were also in line for “Over the Hedge.” While they had no children with them to see the animated feature, Nancy said they often “check out films for the little ones.”

“If it’s good, then we buy it on DVD for our grandchildren,” said Nancy. “A lot of people will say, ‘What do you think about that movie?’ Just like they did with the ‘Harry Potter’ series. We went to see it and found out there was a lot wrong with what they were saying.”

Jerry Johnson and Janice Stallings were waiting to see “Da Vinci Code.”

“We’ve been waiting for this to open for a long time,” said Stallings. “We’re tired of driving to Decatur and Huntsville. My daughter has been calling every day to see if they’re open yet.”

Wayne Green was acting as the official “doorman” Friday night.

“Yeah, I’m really excited about this, but I’m glad for Athens too,” he said. “The last time we’ve had a walk-in movie theater in Athens was 23 years ago.”