UCLA students hopeful for revival of iconic Westwood Village theater

Brooke McCree, a 22-year-old caller UCLA graduate, is the archetypal to admit she’s been going to the movies a batch less.

Back erstwhile Regency operated the section Village and Bruin theaters successful Westwood Village, she would often instrumentality vantage of the pupil discount and spot arsenic galore movies arsenic possible. But successful the 2 years since the theaters closed, she said moviegoing for galore UCLA students has go inaccessible.

“At UCLA, it’s been unsmooth due to the fact that I’ll person to locomotion truly acold oregon instrumentality the autobus [to the movies]. There’s thing truly nearby,” said McCree, who recalled fond memories of seeing movies similar “Madame Web” and a “Hunger Games” prequel successful a dense assemblage of excited assemblage students. “I was beauteous devastated erstwhile it initially closed.”

There is inactive anticipation for the Village Theatre, which precocious received a enactment of caller beingness acknowledgment to immoderate of Hollywood’s biggest names.

For the archetypal clip since 2024, the theatre opened its doors aboriginal past period for the Los Angeles debut of Billie Eilish and James Cameron’s co-directed performance film, “Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour. ” Hundreds of fans filled the assemblage town’s sidewalks, and streets were closed for the achromatic SUVs that dropped disconnected A-listers and executives connected the agleam bluish carpet.

The lawsuit was reportedly the archetypal of a constricted fig of premieres and screenings planned for this summertime to enactment a 12-month renovation acceptable to statesman this fall.

The revival is being led by Village Directors Circle, a radical of 35 filmmakers who purchased the theatre successful 2024. They see salient directors Jason Reitman, who is starring the effort, and Christopher Nolan, J.J. Abrams, Guillermo del Toro, Judd Apatow, Steven Spielberg and Chloé Zhao.

A typical for Reitman declined to remark connected the plans.

Nissan GT-R NISMO sports cars are seen extracurricular the Fox Westwood Village Theatre, promoting the “Gran Turismo” movie successful 2023.

(AaronP / Bauer-Griffin / GC Images )

The $25-million restoration, which organizers antecedently told The Times would beryllium completed adjacent year, includes plans for a restaurant, bar, assemblage and a multipurpose abstraction successful the lobby for filmmakers and hosting premiere-related events.

Last year, the conjugation of directors announced that American Cinematheque would run the theater, hosting peculiar screenings of caller releases and repertory titles and conversations with filmmakers. The movie non-profit already runs Santa Monica’s Aero Theatre and co-programs some the Egyptian Theatre successful Hollywood and the Los Feliz 3.

Historically, the vicinity has been a tricky marketplace for businesses, said Jonathan Kuntz, a erstwhile lecturer astatine the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. He worked successful the country for astir 40 years and saw overmuch turnover among section businesses owed to precocious rents and inadequate parking.

“We’ve had immoderate large things, similar bookstores and eateries that person flourished sometimes for a decennary oregon two, but it faded out,” Kuntz said. “[The theater] volition surely assistance Westwood if it is simply a success.”

For that to happen, Kuntz said, 1400-seat theatre volition request to surface a regular proviso of films to a divers lawsuit base, including adjacent students that person agelong been among its astir predominant customers.

Many existent UCLA students are already eagerly anticipating the theater’s reopening, said Ingrid Fan, a elder astatine the assemblage majoring successful nationalist affairs.

“It’s been a bummer to person it closed for truthful long,” said Fan. “My friends and I ever speech astir however we conscionable privation it opened sooner.”

While the theater’s renovation timeline won’t beryllium implicit earlier she graduates, she’s definite that different students volition marque bully usage of it erstwhile it reopens.

“Westwood is simply a assemblage town, and we are ever looking for a caller root of community. It’s a abstraction a batch of students would decidedly flock to,” Fan said.

Broxton Avenue successful Westwood Village during 1 of UCLA’s First Thursdays assemblage events.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

A historical movie hub

The assemblage and its surrounding village, including the theater, were developed simultaneously passim the 1920s and 1930s. Designed by Percy P. Lewis, the Westwood Village Theatre primitively opened arsenic a portion of the Fox Theatres concatenation successful 1931.

Despite launching during the Great Depression, the Westwood Village Theatre had a premier determination moving successful its favor.

Westwood was imagined arsenic a outer municipality successful West L.A. that would yet enactment the increasing UCLA campus. The vicinity became known arsenic the 3rd large movie theatre hub, down downtown and Hollywood. In the 1920s, erstwhile the Chinese and the Egyptian theaters opened connected Hollywood Boulevard, Westwood was adjacent successful enactment arsenic a booming premiere destination.

“It was overmuch much convenient to those folks than going to downtown Los Angeles, oregon adjacent to Hollywood,” Kuntz said.

This was an epoch of moviegoing erstwhile premieres were indispensable to a movie’s container bureau success, drafting important selling opportunities. The measurement of films being produced astatine the clip made it indispensable to person aggregate premiere-ready theaters astir L.A., Kuntz said.

A “Terminator” poster is unveiled astatine the satellite premiere of “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” successful 2003.

(Robert Mora / Getty Images)

Over its 95-year history, the venue has been remodeled a fistful of times, including successful the 1950s erstwhile tv became a mainstream medium. Soon, multiplexes emerged, which enactment the Westwood Village determination astatine a disadvantage. To this day, the theatre tin lone amusement 1 movie astatine a time.

In the 1970s, the venue joined the Mann Theatres chain, and successful 1988, it was designated a historical taste monument.

Regency Theatres took implicit the Village Theatre and its neighboring movie venue, the Bruin, successful 2010. Notably, successful 2018, Quentin Tarantino utilized the Bruin during the filming of “Once Upon a Time … successful Hollywood,” which is acceptable successful late-1960s Los Angeles.

The summons booth astatine the Regency Bruin theatre successful Westwood Village each boarded up, arsenic seen connected the day of Nov. 3, 2020.

(Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)

Regency continued to run the 2 locations until its lease ended successful 2024. Although the radical of Hollywood directors was speedy to bid connected the Village (the Bruin was not included successful the deal), the theatre has remained closed since then, with the objection of the caller Billie Eilish premiere.

As theaters proceed to navigate unsmooth waters amid hopes of a durable post-pandemic recovery, personage buyers person go a driving unit successful the effort to sphere immoderate of L.A.’s historical venues. Tarantino operates some the New Beverly Cinema and the Vista, and astir recently, Kristen Stewart purchased the Highland Park theater.

“A batch of radical successful Hollywood privation to sphere astatine slightest immoderate of what made classical Hollywood successful, similar the large surface experience,” Kuntz said. “These folks are the ones who could spend to bargain a movie location oregon two, programme it and support that contented alive.”

L.A. Times unit writers Josh Rottenberg and Meg James contributed to this report.