1000 W. Olympic Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90015 | map |
The Regal L.A. Live pages: history and exterior views | the Imax theatre | main lobby & auditoria 2-14 |
The Imax lobby:
A 2019 look of the south end of the lobby that was devoted to auditorium #1. Until the 2025 Imax rebuild it was called the Premiere Theatre. Photo: Bill Counter
The entrance rotunda to the big house. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
The
barricade closing off the south end of the lobby during the rebuild of
the Premiere Theatre. Photo: Bill Counter - September
2025
The Premiere's snackbar during the rebuild. Photo: Bill Counter - September 2025
Over to the left it's the left entrance to the big house. Photo: Bill Counter - September 2025
Looking in at the progress on December 10, 2025. Photo: Bill Counter
The bar and theatre entrance. Photo: Bill Counter - December 10, 2025
The south end of the revamped lobby. Photo: Bill Counter - December 10, 2025
Opening day for the Imax house, December 19, 2025. Photo: Bill Counter.
Looking in to the Imax entrance from the main lobby. Photo: Bill Counter - February 2026
The new snackbar. Photo: Bill Counter - February 2026
A later bar shot. On the right note the worker doing some touch-up painting. Photo: Bill Counter - March 2026
The sink area of the rebuilt men's room. Photo: Bill Counter - March 2026
Another men's room vista. Photo: Bill Counter - March 2026
The house left entrance rotunda. There are steps up to the crossaisle inside the doors. Photo: Bill Counter - February 2026
Looking up to the house left end of the crossaisle. Photo: Bill Counter - March 2026
Looking back to the main lobby and the stairs to house right. Photo: Bill Counter - February 2026
Heading upstairs after the Imax rebuild:
On the stairs house right. Photo: Bill Counter - March 2026
Top
of the stairs at the main floor crossaisle level. The entrance to house
right side of the crossaisle is through the double doors. The stairs,
elevator or escalator go to the Mezzanine for the top of the main floor
or to the 2nd floor for the balcony entrance. Photo: Bill Counter -
February 2026
On
the lobby's mezzanine level. On the left it's the entrance to the lobby
at the back of the main floor. Photo: Bill Counter - March 2026
Looking in to the lobby at the back of the main floor. The door to the booth is just this side of the ladder. Also see a view back from house left. Photos: Bill Counter - March 2026
On the lobby's 2nd floor. The doors on the left lead to the balcony of theatre #1. Photo: Bill Counter - March 2026
The entrance vestibule. Also see a shot from inside the vestibule. Photos: Bill Counter - March 2026
A
view from the house right end of the balcony level lobby. The blue
wires? The electricians were doing a bit of work before the first
matinee. Photo: Bill Counter - March 2026
Looking back toward the main lobby from the house left end of the balcony lobby. Photo: Bill Counter - March 2026
The Imax auditorium:
The original look of the Premiere Theatre. Thanks to Eric Richardson for his 2009 photo on Flickr. Note the sidewall cove lighting, not in use in later years.
Another view to the rear. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
A sidewall view. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
The rear of the main floor. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
A balcony view. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
The rear of the balcony. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
A look toward the 70' screen in the Premiere Theatre. It's a photo that appeared in 2022 on the L.A. Live Facebook page.
Beginning to unroll the new screen in 2025. This image and the four below are from a 45 second time-lapse video clip Regal shared on Facebook.
Laying it out across the seats.
Attaching the top of the screen to a batten.
Starting to hoist it up.
Nearly up in position.
The new 1.90 ratio screen, reportedly 42.5' x 80'. Thanks to Ben Steinberg for sharing the photo on his Save Your Cinema
feed on X. For comparison, the 1.90 ratio screen at the Chinese is 46' x
92'. The 1.43 ratio screen at the AMC CityWalk is 58' x 79'.
Projection, initially, was with the Imax CoLA single laser system.
A wider view from Ben Steinberg. Thanks!
A
look to the rear on reopening day. Thanks to Nothing But Cinema for
sharing his photo. The initial film was "Avatar: Fire and Ash" in 3-D.
The balcony wasn't yet open.
By
the time of this February 17, 2026 photo the original 2009 purple decor
had been replaced with Regal's standard all-black look. This is the
view from the back of the main floor. Photo: Bill Counter
House left. There's no masking installed -- the screen wraps around the frame. Photo: Bill Counter - February 17, 2026
The booth at the back of the main floor. Photo: Bill Counter - February 17, 2026
The
booth ports. The film projector is on the right. That's the digital
unit in the center port. Photo: Bill Counter - March 2026
A look to the rear with the cleaning lights on. Photo: Bill Counter - February 17, 2026
Sidewall lights on before the show. Photo: Bill Counter - March 2026
A view with the pre-show on the screen. Photo: Bill Counter - March 2026
A promo for Regal's unlimited pass on the screen as part of the pre-show. Photo: Bill Counter - February 2026
Ahead
of the 15 perf "Project Hail Mary" screenings was a digital reel of ads
and trailers using the full width of the 1.90 ratio screen. On 15 perf
film in the 1.43 ratio were trailers for "Dune: Part Three" (seen here)
and Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey." Photo: Bill Counter - March 24,
2026
New Imax signage on the front of the balcony. Photo: Bill Counter - August 2026
A look in with the film projector's hood up for cleaning and threading. Photo: Bill Counter - August 2026
The balcony's house right vom. Photo: Bill Counter - March 2026
Across the lower section of the balcony. No recliners up here. Photo: Bill Counter - March 2026
The screen as seen from upstairs. Photo: Bill Counter - March 2026
The house right stairs to the upper section. Photo: Bill Counter - March 2026
The upper section of the balcony. Photo: Bill Counter - March 2026
The house left vom and stairs to the upper section. Photo: Bill Counter - March 2026
In the Imax booth:
It's at the back of the main floor. When
the renovated auditorium reopened as an Imax-branded venue in December
2025 it was digital only, using a single-laser system. An Imax SR
["small rotor"] film projector and QTRU ["quick turn reel unit"] platter
was added in time for the 70mm run of "Project Hail Mary," opening
March 13, 2026. Beginning July 16 they ran Christopher Nolan's "The
Odyssey" on 70mm.
A look in from the back of the booth as the end credits roll for "The Odyssey." That's the digital projector, an Imax laser machine, on the right. It's a five-deck platter system for Imax film but the top one isn't installed. Photo: Bill Counter - August 2026
Looking over to the left wall. Thanks to Patrick Caldwell for sharing his
July 2026 photo. He lives in Tennessee but was in town for the 70mm run
of "The Odyssey" that opened July 16. He last worked in L.A. in the
temporary Imax booth built at the Chinese for the run of
"Oppenheimer." Patrick was interviewed by Chris Stanton for "Thank This Retired Projectionist for Those 3 a.m. 'Odyssey' 70-mm. Imax Showings," an August 3, 2026 article for the Vulture section of New York Magazine.
Patrick watching the credits at the end of a screening of "The Odyssey." Photo: Bill Counter - August 2026
The feed side of the SR projector. That's just a test loop dangling in the middle. To the left of the "X" on the housing note the two greenish PTRs -- particle transfer rollers. They're designed to pick up any dirt or other stray material on the print. Photo: Bill Counter - August 2026
A better look at the PTRs on the feed side of the machine. It's a March 2026 image by Ernest Nelms from his fine 90 second video clip on
Facebook that offered a swing around the lobby, auditorium and the
booth. Those are two of the shipping
platters he used to bring in the print for "Hail Mary," the first Imax film for the theatre. Credits on the screen are from the end
of
a show they were running digitally. Ernest works for
Imax doing print assembly and distribution.
Getting near the end. Photo: Bill Counter - August 2026
A view toward the front wall in the space between the film and digital projectors. Image: Ernest Nelms - 2026
Two of the amp racks as seen from beside the digital machine. Photo: Bill Counter - August 2026
The right side of the Imax digital machine. Photo: Bill Counter - August 2026
Along the right side of the Imax digital projector to the front wall. Image: Ernest Nelms - March 2026
The right front corner of the booth with the main control screen at the left. Image: Ernest Nelms - March 2026. Thanks, Ernest! Watch his video clip.
Turning a bit to the right from the previous image we get a look along the amp racks. On the wall at the center, with the sloped top, is the Regal automation system. House light dimmers are on the wall straight ahead. The steps down to the booth door are behind the amp racks. Photo: Bill Counter - August 2026
Beyond the amp racks it's prints of "Sinners" and "One Battle After Another." Patrick noted that the plastic bag contains heads and tails for "The Odyssey." Photo: Bill Counter - August 2026
House light dimmers on the right wall. Photo: Bill Counter - August 2026
The top of the Regal automation cabinet. Photo: Bill Counter - August 2026
Racks 1 and 2. Photo: Bill Counter - August 2026
Imax nXos Audio Calibrators in rack #1. Photo: Bill Counter - August 2026
The bottom of rack 1 with power amps and a PD-3 power distribution unit. Photo: Bill Counter - August 2026
Racks 2 and 3. The QSC amps in rack 2 are for balcony fill, with a separate time delay for their signal. Rack 3 has the updated Imax sound system processor and sync control for film. There is no soundtrack or even time code on Imax 70mm prints. Photo: Bill Counter - August 2026
The left wall as seen from in front of rack 3. Note the square box on the wall, the film system's power supply and controls. Photo: Patrick Caldwell - 2026
The Control/Distribution box. Photo: Bill Counter - August 2026
A peek inside. Some functions are AC but the platter runs on DC and some of the projector circuits are also DC. Photo: Bill Counter - August 2026
The projector after stopping at the end of the credits. Patrick had opened the gates but film was still looped around the rotor. The machine only has two sprockets. One over to the left where the film comes in, one around to the right as it exits. The SR machines use a 7Kw xenon lamp. Photo: Bill Counter - August 2026
Turning the takeup platter by hand to pull the tail end of the film through the projector. On the deck above note the "brain" still positioned in the center of the platter and the cloth ribbon that had been secured around the print with velcro. The orange clamps around the perimeter have to each be unscrewed and moved down to the platter below. Photo: Bill Counter - August 2026
Patrick pulling out the brain that had been in the center of the feed platter. In the background note the three amp racks and the stairs down to the booth door. There's also a wider door in the back wall off to the right, at booth floor height, for equipment installation or removal. Photo: Bill Counter - August 2026
A look back from the side of the projector as the brain is placed on the makeup table prior to cleaning the platter it had been on. Photo: Bill Counter - August 2026
The brain, when it's in place, is secured with the black knob. Photo: Bill Counter - August 2026
Another angle on the brain. Photo: Bill Counter - August 2026
Taking the orange clamps off deck 3 where the print had been for the last screening and moving them down to deck 4, where the print now is. Note that the platters on this system aren't vertically aligned -- they're staggered. Photo: Bill Counter - August 2026
The center takeup ring, ready to be positioned on deck 3. Note the oversized backwall door for any equipment deliveries. Photo: Bill Counter - August 2026
Installing the field flattener lens after cleaning and treating with a wipe of Rain-X. In operation, each frame of film is slapped up against this lens and then secured by registration pins. Photo: Bill Counter - August 2026
When threading, a roll of film is made of the leader, with enough length to get through the machine and onto the takeup platter. Here Patrick has looped the film around the rotor and left the roll on the "shelf" on the side of the machine. Note the tracks on the floor and the alignment pin at the lower center of the image. The machine is easily pulled back for cleaning and threading -- you want to be able to walk around the front of it. Photo: Bill Counter - August 2026
The QTRU's roller assembly. The takeup side is nearest us. Photo: Bill Counter - August 2026
A closer look at the control unit. Its shape is an homage to the Palm Pilot, the controller originally used for these systems. Photo: Bill Counter - August 2026
Head leader running through the machine in slo-mo to check for any problems. We're feeding from deck 4 and taking up above that on deck 3. There's a proximity sensor in the machine to detect a foil cue on the film that's positioned to stop the machine with the "start" frame in the gate to assure sync with the sound. Photo: Bill Counter - August 2026
A digital trailer reel starts automatically at showtime, cued by the theatre's
automation system. Patrick notes that to start the film he's ready to hit
the start button when he hears a certain cue in the "Welcome to Regal"
snipe. Ahead of "The Odyssey" was a 15 perf trailer for "Dune: Part 3." Christopher Nolan was in with Emma Thomas, his wife and
producing partner, and watched a half-hour or so. He told Patrick he was happy with the presentation, other than the lack of side
masking.
Thanks for your hospitality, Patrick!
The Regal L.A. Live pages: back to top - the L.A. Live Imax | main lobby & auditoria 2-14 | history and exterior views |
| Downtown: theatre district overview | Hill St. and farther west | Broadway theatres | Spring St. theatres | Main St. and farther east | downtown theatres by address | downtown theatres alphabetical list |
| Westside | Hollywood | Westwood and Brentwood | Along the Coast | [more] Los Angeles movie palaces | the main alphabetical list | theatre history resources | film and theatre tech resources | theatres in movies | LA Theatres on facebook | contact info | welcome and site navigation guide |
No comments:
Post a Comment