At a second when a few of Los Angeles’ most storied film homes stay darkish — most notably the ArcLight Hollywood and Cinerama Dome — and lots of others are nonetheless combating by means of a fragile restoration, one in every of its oldest is taking a big step towards revival.
On Tuesday, director Jason Reitman and a coalition of greater than 30 filmmakers introduced that the American Cinematheque will function and program the Village Theater in Westwood because it undergoes a $25-million restoration geared toward a 2027 reopening. The administrators — who bought the 94-year-old film palace in February 2024 — have tapped the nonprofit to run the more-than-1,300-seat venue and assist form its future.
The settlement brings collectively two unusually highly effective forces in Los Angeles movie tradition: a who’s-who roster of A-list administrators and, within the American Cinematheque, one of many metropolis’s most seen and bold programming establishments. Reitman’s coalition — together with Christopher Nolan, Steven Spielberg, Damien Chazelle, Bradley Cooper, Alfonso Cuarón, Ryan Coogler, James Gunn, Denis Villeneuve, Karyn Kusama, Lulu Wang, Chloé Zhao and lots of others — purchased the Village in an effort to protect it as a hub for communal moviegoing at a time of deep uncertainty for theaters.
“Last year, some of the greatest living directors rallied to save a Los Angeles monument, the Village Theater in Westwood,” Reitman mentioned in an announcement. “We often like to think of movie theaters as churches. If so, the Village is a cathedral and with the American Cinematheque, we found our congregation.”
Underneath the brand new settlement, the American Cinematheque will handle day by day operations and lead programming on the theater, with “active participation from the filmmakers,” based on the announcement.
The transformed venue is predicted to host particular screenings with in-person conversations, premieres, awards-season occasions, new releases, repertory titles and an expanded slate of AC’s signature festivals, together with Past Fest, Bleak Week, This Is Not a Fiction and Extremely Cinematheque 70 Fest. The Village has been a showcase for Hollywood premieres since its opening in 1931, a convention the companions say they intend to proceed.
The Village Theater in Westwood is ready to bear a serious restoration below a filmmakers’ partnership.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Occasions)
The Village’s foyer shall be redesigned as a multipurpose area for concessions, filmmaker artifacts, retail kiosks and premiere-related occasions. The administrators and AC are within the quiet section of a $25-million capital marketing campaign to help the renovation, which is scheduled to start early subsequent 12 months. Reitman mentioned he’s “very excited by the early leadership commitments by individuals and a major technology sponsor” and emphasised that they need to give audiences “a place to experience the films they love with the people they love.”
For the American Cinematheque — which operates the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica and co-programs each the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood and the Los Feliz 3 — the partnership considerably expands its footprint. Based in 1984, the Cinematheque is a member-supported nonprofit devoted to fostering a various and engaged movie group by means of immersive programming, dialog and presentation, staging greater than 1,600 screenings a 12 months throughout codecs starting from 35mm and 70mm to digital and uncommon nitrate.
“Partnering with the brilliant and virtuoso Village Directors Circle to renovate the Village Theater is an exciting milestone for the American Cinematheque,” AC Chair Rick Nicita mentioned. “Our goal is to create a vibrant cultural hub that not only celebrates cinema but also enriches the community and welcomes audiences from all over Los Angeles and the world.”
The announcement lands as Los Angeles continues to navigate a theatrical ecosystem reshaped by the pandemic. The Vista reopened below Quentin Tarantino’s stewardship, Vidiots rebounded in Eagle Rock and the Egyptian welcomed audiences again in 2023 after a serious restoration. But the restoration has been uneven, with some theaters thriving and others nonetheless struggling to regain pre-COVID audiences.
In the meantime, the standing of two of L.A.’s most well-known film homes stays unsure. The ArcLight Hollywood and the adjoining Cinerama Dome, closed since 2020, took a small step ahead this week when the Central Hollywood Neighborhood Council provided unanimous help for a conditional-use allow permitting the advanced to serve alcohol. The theaters’ homeowners, the Decurion Corp., which is managed by the Forman household, have mentioned they continue to be dedicated to redeveloping the property, although no timeline has been introduced.
The Village’s revival dovetails with broader efforts to revitalize Westwood Village forward of the 2028 Summer season Olympics. With the theater probably repositioned for an attention-grabbing relaunch, the Village Administrators Circle and the Cinematheque hope to show the venue right into a cultural anchor that might stand alongside Walt Disney Live performance Corridor, the Hollywood Bowl and Griffith Observatory.
Chatting with The Occasions final 12 months after the acquisition, Reitman put it this manner: “You know, there’s something in the name — Westwood is a village and this theater is called the Village. I think that’s what we all yearn for. No matter how technologically advanced we get, no matter how much we crave the city center, there’s a part of us that always yearns for a village. This is a village for movies.”
