The historic Westwood Village and Bruin movie theaters will go dark Thursday as their leases with Regency Theatres come to an end, the CEO of the Calabasas-based movie chain confirmed Monday.
The theaters, which date back to the early years of the Golden Age of Hollywood, have been operated by Regency since 2010. Both have been designated Los Angeles cultural heritage monuments.
“We have been proud to steward these buildings for the past 14 years and are grateful to the Hollywood community and patrons alike who have supported these iconic theaters,” Regency President Lyndon Golin said in a statement. “We are excited to see what the future holds for these beloved Los Angeles landmarks and look forward to their continued success.”
The Westwood Village, which was built by Fox West Coast Theatres and opened in August 1931, features a 170-foot Spanish Revival Art Deco tower topped by the Fox name. With a capacity of about 1,400, it has been frequently used for Hollywood premieres over the years.
The Bruin, which is directly across Broxton Avenue from the Westwood Village, opened in 1937. Its Streamline Moderne marquee is a throwback to the architecture of the times when Fox built the 670-seat theater.
The Westwood Village is expected to reopen as a movie theater at some future point. Earlier this year, director Jason Reitman and a group of two dozen well-known film directors including Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, Guillermo Del Toro, and JJ Abrams, bought the theater to restore it. Future plans are said to include displaying artifacts and films from their personal collections including costumes, props and more.
The future of the Bruin, which was used as a prominent location for Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 film “Once Upon a Time In Hollywood,” is less certain.
A spokesman for the commercial real estate firm Newmark told Variety that the Bruin is not on the market yet and no decision has been made on whether it will be offered for lease or sale. He told the entertainment magazine that several parties, including Reitman’s group of directors, have expressed interest in it.
City News Service also contributed to this story.
