Guarantor Subsidiaries - Condensed Consolidating Statement of Cash Flows (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2012
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities	$ 31,889	$ 26,129
Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchases of property and equipment	(13,691)	(10,626)
Purchase acquisition	(1,349)	(702)
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment	229	700
Other investing activities	280	314
Net cash used in investing activities	(14,531)	(10,314)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Short-term borrowings		5,000
Repayments of short term borrowings		(5,000)
Issuance of long-term debt		209,500
Repayments of long-term debt		(200,229)
Debt issuance costs		(8,599)
Repayments of capital leases and long-term financing obligations	(1,979)	(900)
Issuance of common stock		56,633
Purchase of treasury stock	(174)	(57)
Intercompany receivable/payable
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	(2,153)	56,348
Increase in cash and cash equivalents	15,205	72,163
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	68,531	13,616
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	83,736	85,779
Carmike Cinemas, Inc. [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities	16,853	(2,151)
Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchases of property and equipment	(3,444)	(4,855)
Purchase acquisition
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment	5	33
Other investing activities	280	314
Net cash used in investing activities	(3,159)	(4,508)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Short-term borrowings		5,000
Repayments of short term borrowings		(5,000)
Issuance of long-term debt		209,500
Repayments of long-term debt		(200,229)
Debt issuance costs		(8,599)
Repayments of capital leases and long-term financing obligations	(210)	(162)
Issuance of common stock		56,633
Purchase of treasury stock	(174)	(57)
Intercompany receivable/payable	5,576	18,916
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	5,192	76,002
Increase in cash and cash equivalents	18,886	69,343
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	49,093	3,623
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	67,979	72,966
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities	12,972	28,280
Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchases of property and equipment	(9,189)	(5,771)
Purchase acquisition		(702)
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment	224	667
Other investing activities
Net cash used in investing activities	(8,965)	(5,806)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repayments of capital leases and long-term financing obligations	(893)	(738)
Purchase of treasury stock
Intercompany receivable/payable	(4,872)	(18,916)
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	(5,765)	(19,654)
Increase in cash and cash equivalents	(1,758)	2,820
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	14,870	9,993
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	13,112	12,813
Eliminations [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities
Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchases of property and equipment
Purchase acquisition
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment
Other investing activities
Net cash used in investing activities
Cash flows from financing activities:
Short-term borrowings
Repayments of capital leases and long-term financing obligations
Purchase of treasury stock
Intercompany receivable/payable
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities
Increase in cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities	2,064
Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchases of property and equipment	(1,058)
Purchase acquisition	(1,349)
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment
Other investing activities
Net cash used in investing activities	(2,407)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repayments of capital leases and long-term financing obligations	(876)
Purchase of treasury stock
Intercompany receivable/payable	(704)
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	(1,580)
Increase in cash and cash equivalents	(1,923)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	4,568
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	2,645
Guarantor Financials [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities	31,889
Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchases of property and equipment	(13,691)
Purchase acquisition	(1,349)
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment	229
Other investing activities	280
Net cash used in investing activities	(14,531)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repayments of capital leases and long-term financing obligations	(1,979)
Purchase of treasury stock	(174)
Intercompany receivable/payable
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	(2,153)
Increase in cash and cash equivalents	15,205
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	68,531
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	83,736
Guarantor Financials [Member] | Carmike Cinemas, Inc. [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities	16,853
Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchases of property and equipment	(3,444)
Purchase acquisition
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment	5
Other investing activities	280
Net cash used in investing activities	(3,159)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repayments of capital leases and long-term financing obligations	(210)
Purchase of treasury stock	(174)
Intercompany receivable/payable	5,576
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	5,192
Increase in cash and cash equivalents	18,886
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	49,093
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	67,979
Guarantor Financials [Member] | Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities	15,036
Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchases of property and equipment	(10,247)
Purchase acquisition	(1,349)
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment	224
Other investing activities
Net cash used in investing activities	(11,372)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repayments of capital leases and long-term financing obligations	(1,769)
Purchase of treasury stock
Intercompany receivable/payable	(5,576)
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	(7,345)
Increase in cash and cash equivalents	(3,681)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	19,438
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	15,757
Guarantor Financials [Member] | Eliminations [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities
Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchases of property and equipment
Purchase acquisition
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment
Other investing activities
Net cash used in investing activities
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repayments of capital leases and long-term financing obligations
Purchase of treasury stock
Intercompany receivable/payable
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities
Increase in cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period