Opened: October 2009. The 14 screen theatre at Olympic and Georgia St. is part of the L.A. Live complex controlled by Phillip Anschutz' AEG. He sold the Regal circuit in 2017 to the British firm Cineworld Group. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010
Phone: 213-763-6070, 213-763-6071 Website: www.regmovies.com/theaters
Seating: 3,772 seats in 14 auditoria. The largest, the Premiere Theatre, seats 806 and has a 70' wide screen.
Status: Open and running films on 14 screens.
In August 2022 Cineworld announced that they would most likely be filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for its Regal subsidiary in the U.S. and possibly taking similar action for the parent company in the U.K. There were stories from Variety, the Wall Street Journal and the Hollywood Reporter about the chain's problems.
They filed in September. The L.A. Times had a September 7 story by Ryan Faughnder headed "Regal Cinemas parent company seeks bankruptcy protection..." The goal of the restructuring is to reduce the Cineworld debt load ( $5 billion excluding lease obligations) and renegotiate theatre leases with landlords. Ryan gave a rundown of the Regal history:
"It’s not the first time Regal has found itself in trouble with creditors. Regal Cinemas was founded in 1989 in Knoxville, Tenn., and rode a wave of megaplex and multiplex construction in the 1990s. As the industry faced a glut of giant theaters after years of overdevelopment, Regal declared bankruptcy in 2001 amid a wave of consolidation in the exhibition business.
"Regal completed its Chapter 11 reorganization and emerged from bankruptcy in 2002 under the ownership of an investor group led by billionaire Philip Anschutz, a developer of L.A. Live with a state-of-the-art Regal multiplex. In 2017, Regal agreed to be sold to Cineworld. The deal valued Regal at $3.6 billion. Cineworld is not the first theater operator to seek bankruptcy protection since the pandemic, but it is the largest to do so."
Interior views:
The three-story lobby. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019
Looking down from the top level of the lobby. Photo: Bill Counter - 2012
The lobby area for the Premiere Theatre. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019
The lobby area for the Premiere Theatre. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019
The entrance rotunda to the big house. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
The Premiere Theatre. Thanks to Eric Richardson for his 2009 photo on Flickr. Note the sidewall cove lighting, not currently in use.
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.
The main floor corridor leading to auditoria 2 through 7. Olympic Blvd. is out the windows to the right. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019
Auditorium #2. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019
The rear of auditorium #2. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019
More exterior views:
Looking west on Olympic. Photo: Bill Counter - 2012
The 110 drive-by shot. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010
A 2009 pre-opening view. Thanks to Eric Richardson for the photo on Flickr.
A 2020 photo by Jay L. Glendening for the L.A. Times that appeared with "Coming....Someday. What's Next For the Movies?," an April 30, 2020 Times special report.
Much of the content in the 11 articles was about what has to happen to get production
started but Ryan Faughnder's article "How will movie theaters make customers feel safe after coronavirus?" was more about the theatre end of the
business.
More Information: See the Cinema Tour page for 12 photos by Chris Utley. Cinema Treasures also has a page on the Regal.
The L.A. Times had a March 2014 article on Regal's plans to install a 4D auditorium in partnership with CJ Group, a Korean company. In 2015 the complex got a liquor license.
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