Two historic 1930s movie theaters 30 yards apart both to shut this week
Two iconic Los Angeles movie theaters are closing later this week.
The Regency Village Theater in Westwood and its nearby sister theater Bruin will close on Thursday, their operator confirmed on Sunday.
Regency Theaters, which operates 20 movie theaters in California, has operated the two theaters β on either side of Broxton Avenue β for 14 years, but the leases on the properties expire later this month.
The two theaters, opened in the 1930s, have become landmarks in the film industry and were recently featured in Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Once Upon a Time β¦ in Hollywood.’
The Regency Village, designated a historic cultural monument in 1988, will be temporarily closed after a massive effort to save it, led by director Jason Reitman, the man behind the recent Ghostbusters films.
Two Los Angeles movie theaters that have featured in films will close later this week
Reitman and a group of film industry luminaries including Christopher Nolan, JJ Abrams, Guillermo del Toro, Steven Spielberg and Bradley Cooper purchased the theater in February.
The group previously announced that they plan to renovate and reopen the building to show a mix of new and old films, but no timeline has been given for the completion of the project.
βWe have an exciting vision that includes eating, drinking, going to the movies, visiting galleries and programming new and old films, and we can’t wait to share that with everyone,β Reitman said. told the LA Times.
The 52-metre-high, white exterior of the Spanish Art Deco-style Regency Village was designed by Percy P. Lewis.
The theatre opened in 1931 and was originally part of the Fox Theatres group. In the 1970s it was acquired by the Mann Theatres chain.
De Bruin, which first opened its doors in 1937, will close for the time being.
‘The [Bruin’s] βThe owners would like to thank the Golin family and Regency Theatres for the relationship we have had with them over the past 14 years,β a spokesperson said in a statement to the Times.
The owners added that they are “currently evaluating future opportunities for the Bruin.”
De Bruin first opened its doors in 1937, but will remain closed for the time being
The Regency Village, designated a historical cultural monument in 1988, will be closed only temporarily
The Two Cinemas Featured in Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Once Upon a Time β¦ in Hollywood’
Movie theaters have struggled to recover from the impact of pandemic lockdowns, the rise of streaming and the latest setback of last year’s SAG-AFRA writers’ and actors’ strikes.
This significantly delayed the supply of new films, making it more difficult for cinemas to recover.
Still, blockbusters like Twisters, which premiered to great success last week, offer a glimmer of hope for struggling cinemas across the country.