Beloved historic movie theaters Westwood Village and Bruin to close this week
Westwood’s historic movie palaces, the Regency Village Theatre and the Bruin, are closing later this week.
“The last day of operation for the Bruin & Village Theaters under Regency is Thursday, July 25,†Lyndon Golin, Regency Theatres president, confirmed in an email Sunday.
Regency has managed the two theaters for 14 years, but its leases for the properties end later this month, Golin added.
A beloved landmark, the Village Theatre is expected to close only temporarily, thanks to a high-profile effort by director Jason Reitman and others to save the once stately 170-foot white Spanish Revival-Art Deco “wedding cake†tower that has beckoned Westside moviegoers since 1931. The group announced in late February that its acquisition of the theater had closed but it did not disclose a timetable for renovations or say when the Village might be ready for a grand re-opening.
The fate of the nearby Bruin, which opened in 1937, remains unclear; it was not purchased along with its more showy sibling.
“The [Bruin’s] owners thank the Golin Family and Regency Theaters for our relationship with them for the last 14 years,†the family said in a statement, provided by a representative. The owners said they are “currently evaluating future opportunities for the Bruin.â€
Several of Hollywood’s biggest filmmakers, led by Jason Reitman and including Christopher Nolan and Steven Spielberg, are taking over the Village Theater in Westwood.
The two theaters were famously used as locations in Quentin Tarantino’s 1960s-set “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.â€
Long known as the Fox Westwood Village, the venue was designed by Percy P. Lewis and designated as a historic cultural monument in 1988. It originally was part of the Fox theater chain. In the 1970s, it became part of the Mann Theatres chain.
The theater went on the market last year. After learning the news, Reitman raced to stitch together a group of filmmakers to purchase the venue before it could be turned into a retail shop or another business serving the nearby UCLA community.
Plans include gussying up the Village — which has a 70mm-capable screen, an upgraded sound system and a cavernous auditorium that can seat more than 1,300 people — to eventually screen a mixture of first-run films and repertory programming, the new owners have said.
“We have an exciting vision that includes dining, drinking, moviegoing, gallery viewing and programming of new and old films, and we cannot wait to share that with everybody,†Reitman said in a February interview with The Times.
Representatives of Reitman‘s group did not respond to queries Sunday for additional details.
The effort to save the Village Theatre on Broxton Avenue came as movie houses in Los Angeles and elsewhere in the country were struggling to stay afloat following the devastating one-two punch of COVID-19 pandemic-related closures and last year’s strikes by Hollywood writers and actors.
The film pipeline has been slow to return, hampering the comeback hopes of many movie theater operators.
Some did not survive the pandemic, including the ArcLight Cinemas chain, with six locations in the Los Angeles area, and the Landmark Theatres’ location at Westside Pavillion.
Theaters such as the Lumiere Cinema at the Music Hall, Alamo Drafthouse, Landmark Theatres and Laemmle Theatres try to rebound as they wait for big indie releases.
Still, there have been flickers of a rebound with the success of recent Hollywood blockbusters, including this weekend’s “Twisters,†from Universal Pictures, which racked up more than $80 million in domestic ticket sales in its debut. Disney/Pixar’s “Inside Out 2†also has soared, generating an estimated $1.4 billion in global sales since its June opening.
Others have shown faith in the independent moviegoing scene. Four years ago, Netflix purchased the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood; filmmaker Tarantino bought the historic Vista Theater in Los Feliz in 2021; and Sony Pictures Entertainment last month assumed control of the Texas-based Alamo Drafthouse Cinema chain, including its location in downtown L.A.
Reitman’s group includes a dizzying array of Oscar-winning filmmakers and other talent, including Christopher Nolan, J.J. Abrams, Guillermo del Toro, Christopher McQuarrie, Judd Apatow, Damien Chazelle, Steven Spielberg, Chris Columbus, Bradley Cooper, Alfonso Cuarón, Hannah Fidell, Alejandro González Iñárritu, James Gunn and Rian Johnson. Other announced members of the ownership group include Gil Kenan, Karyn Kusama, Justin Lin, Phil Lord, David Lowery, Chris Miller, Todd Phillips, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Jay Roach, Seth Rogen, Emma Seligman, Emma Thomas, Denis Villeneuve, Lulu Wang and Chloé Zhao.
Through Thursday, “Twisters†is playing at the Bruin, and “Fly Me to the Moon†is screening at the Village, according to Regency’s website. Regency Theatres operates 20 locations, primarily in Southern California.
This is a developing story.
Lance Alspaugh talks about the surprise sale of the Vista Theatre to Quentin Tarantino, as well as the future of boutique movie exhibition.
Staff writer Josh Rottenberg contributed to this report.
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