Historic L.A. Cinemas the Bruin and Westwood Village Theater to Close This Week

The future of the Bruin, a historic Los Angeles movie theater, is uncertain after Regency Theaters revealed that the company’s lease for the venue expires this month.

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“The last day of operation for the Bruin & Village Theaters under Regency is Thursday, July 25,” Regency president Lyndon Golin confirmed to the Los Angeles Times in a story published on Sunday.

Regency also operates Westwood’s Village Theater, the historic theater famed for its art deco tower, but that venue was saved back in February when a group of 35 filmmakers led by Jason Reitman clubbed together to rescue the 93-year-old cinema.

The coalition of filmmakers to save the Village Theater included J.J. Abrams, Judd Apatow, Damien Chazelle, Chris Columbus, Ryan Coogler, Bradley Cooper, Alfonso Cuarón, Jonathan Dayton, Guillermo del Toro, Valerie Faris, Hannah Fidell, Alejandro González Iñárritu, James Gunn, Sian Heder, Rian Johnson, Gil Kenan, Karyn Kusama, Justin Lin, Phil Lord, David Lowery, Christopher McQuarrie, Chris Miller, Christopher Nolan, Alexander Payne, Todd Phillips, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Reitman, Jay Roach, Seth Rogen, Emma Seligman, Brad Silberling, Steven Spielberg, Emma Thomas, Denis Villeneuve, Lulu Wang and Chloé Zhao.

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However, there was no similar rescue campaign for the Bruin, a storied cinema that first opened in 1937 as the Fox Bruin Theater. Located opposite the more dramatic-looking Village Theater, the Bruin was no less beloved by locals and was designated a Los Angeles historic site in 1988. The 87-year-old cinema also featured prominently in Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Reitman reps for comment on the closure of the Bruin.

Regency has operated the Bruin and the Village Theater for 14 years. The company operates 20 locations, primarily in Southern California.

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