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Once upon a time in Los Feliz, Tarantino bought a movie theater
Director closed on Vista Theatre, which has been shuttered during pandemic as owner waited on government aid
Quentin Tarantino’s love of Hollywood knows no bounds. But the director, writer and producer’s most recent move focuses on Los Feliz.
Tarantino bought the Vista Theatre in Los Feliz, he announced on the podcast “Armchair Expert With Dax Shepard,” according to the Los Angeles Times. In 2007, Tarantino bought the Beverly Theater in Fairfax after hearing its landlord wanted to redevelop the property.
Vista Theatre at 4473 Sunset Drive shuttered during the pandemic, like nearly all theaters across the country. And like some, it has yet to reopen.
Previous owner Lance Alspaugh, who bought it in 1997, said that he was waiting on delayed government grants before reopening. Alspaugh also owns the Los Feliz 3 theater.
“It’s bad that we’re all having to wait, that it’s as slow as it’s been,” he told the Times last month. “It’s the difference between if you reopen or do you not reopen.”
The pandemic put theater owners — large and small — in precarious financial straits.
ArcLight Cinemas said in April it was closing all 16 of its ArcLight- and Pacific Theaters branded locations.
Surviving operators have been able to capitalize on their competitors’ demise. AMC Theaters is one of several companies competing for the former ArcLight and Pacific spaces.
Regal Cinemas beat out AMC and a dozen or so other operators for ArcLight’s space at the Sherman Oaks Galleria. It recently inked a lease there.
Tarantino, whose most recent film was “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” said he plans to reopen the Vista Theatre around Christmas.
[LAT] —Dennis Lynch