You could think of it as Extreme Makeover: Cinema Edition.

Olde Mistick Village Art Cinemas has undergone a radical transformation over the past two months, as it morphs from a traditional site, which dates back to 1973, to a new luxury theater. Most everything inside was thrown out, from ceiling tiles to rugs to theater seats. The tossed items filled not one, not two, but 16 Dumpsters.

Olde Mistick Village Art Cinemas is scheduled to reopen to the public on Dec. 18 (after an invitation-only event on Dec. 17), just in time to screen the latest “Star Wars” extravaganza. And it’ll bear a new name: Mystic Luxury Cinemas.

When those doors swing open, theater-goers will get a very different experience than they had before.

Big changes, part one: Replacing all the seats will be sumptuous new red, faux-leather recliners that are roomier and comfier than their predecessors. They each have a movable table where an audience member could put food or a drink, which brings us to ...

Big changes, part two: The cinema will now sell beer and wine, courtesy of Jonathan Edwards Winery in North Stonington, and it’ll expand its food offerings beyond the tried-and-true movie-theater fare to include, for example, mozzarella sticks and chicken fingers.

Big changes, part three: The number of theaters will jump from three to four, with the screens staying the same size as they are now. But, because of the size of the new chairs and the fact that recliners require a little more space, the number of seats in each auditorium is dropping. The total for the entire Mystic Luxury Cinemas will now hang at about 350, rather than the previous 725. (And, yes, ticket prices will rise a bit, to $11.90 for adults $9.50 for seniors; there will continue to be specials on Wednesdays.)

The auditoriums will now range in size from 41 seats to 140 seats. Co-owner Bill Dougherty says the films that this cinema tends to screen have a loyal following but don’t necessarily require a 300-seat auditorium.

Another benefit: having a fourth screen will allow the theater to bring in 25 percent more films, he notes.

Beyond movies, the theater will screen, thanks to a new satellite dish, such international events as a Bolshoi Ballet performance on Jan. 24. Concerts will continue, with a jazz series from Jumpstart Jazz featuring one show each in March, April and May of 2016.

As part of the refurbishment, Mystic Luxury Cinemas’ lobby was treated to a 300-square-foot addition, which allows room for birthday parties, for instance, or a place for people to meet musicians after a concert.

Dougherty, who bought the Mystic theater in 2006, partnered on the renovation project with now-co-owner Harold Blank of Boston. Dougherty knew Blank through industry contacts, and Blank had worked with Dougherty’s father years ago.

Blank, who has been in the movie-theater business for 40 years and has built theaters in six countries, says, “This is an interesting, fun project for a community that’s going to enjoy it. ... It’s a good project in a good town.”

Blank knows Connecticut; he grew up in Waterbury, and his parents lived in Madison. He likes the shoreline and says it’s a beautiful part of the world.

As for the transformation of Olde Mistick Village Art Cinemas into Mystic Luxury Cinemas, Blank says, “It’s almost like a personal luxury theater. We’re going to try to do a lot of creative things with alternative content, with film, with music, with speaker series — who knows.”

The movies, he says, are “going to be a mix of specialty films, family films and smart films.”

Handling the construction is Regan Enterprises, based in Groton.

And it’s quite a full-theater renovation, with, as Dougherty notes, little left from its previous incarnation aside from the concession stand and water fountain. (He declined to say how much the whole project cost.)

The biggest change to the auditoriums is in the middle theater; it’s been split in two. One of those is the smallest auditorium, with five rows of seats in a stadium set-up and a screen covering one wall.

Getting new luxury seating “changes everything,” Dougherty says. It’s become a national trend, and it’s something that has helped lot of theaters built in the 1970s and ’80s.

“They’ve been able to convert them, and they’ve been great successes,” he says.

He also says, “Theaters have always overcome television, radio. We’ve always overcome all these — DVDs, VCR tapes — because we sell an evening out.”

People may have big screens at home now, but most are not as large as movie-theater screens. Chairs at home are more comfortable than the traditional movie-theater seat, he says. By replacing those seats with recliners, Dougherty says, “Now, we have the big screen AND the comfort — well, there you go, there’s your total package right there.”

The bathrooms have been renovated, too, and are now handicap accessible. The women’s bathroom is on one side of the lobby, with five stalls in all, and the men’s is on the other side. Workers had to jackhammer the bathroom floors to run new plumbing.

One afternoon earlier this week, the theater was buzzing with activity. Outside, someone was lifting one of the old men’s bathroom doors (or “Gents” room, as the sign on it said) into a backhoe bucket so it could be transported to a Dumpster. Inside, workers painted trim and cut plywood, as Christmas music played.

As for watching the entire transformation happen, Dougherty says, “It’s really exciting to see, to know where it started and to have lived it.”

He adds: “It’s a dream come true. It really is.”