The show must go on.
A group of 35 famous filmmakers spent $15.5 million to purchase the Fox Village Theatre in Westwood, The Real Deal has learned.
Producer Jason Reitman rallied the filmmakers — including Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan and Bradley Cooper — to buy the 25,000-square-foot venue in Westwood Village in an effort to preserve the theater.
The consortium spent about $640 a square foot on the theater — and bought the property through a limited liability company called Village Directors Circle, according to records.
On average, the deal comes out to about $443,000 per filmmaker, though it’s unlikely each person put in the same amount of cash.
The sale was made across 10 different deeds, buying it from individuals who had held stakes in the property, located at 945 Broxton Avenue, for years. Newmark brokered the deal but declined to disclose a price.
The theater was built in 1931 and has 1,400 seats. The new owners will add a restaurant and bar to the property and showcase film props, wardrobe collections and film prints.
Reitman, whose late father Ivan Reitman directed the original Ghostbusters films, told the Los Angeles Times that he rallied the filmmakers as soon as he learned the property was going up for sale.
“I heard that the theater was up for sale last summer, and I remembered what happened to the National Theatre just a few blocks away,” he said, referring to that property’s demolition. “I also heard that one of the bidders was interested in turning it into a live musical theater venue and another bidder was interested in turning the interior into retail.
“I immediately put in a bid, and I started reaching out to directors I knew,” he said.
In 2022, Grubb Properties bought the Laemmle theater in North Hollywood and planned to build 128 units on the site.
The full list of new owners are among the most recognizable names in show business. In addition to Spielberg, Nolan, Cooper, Reitman, investors include: J.J. Abrams, Guillermo del Toro, Christopher McQuarrie, Judd Apatow, Damien Chazelle, Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuarón, Hannah Fidell, Alejandro González Iñárritu, James Gunn, Sian Heder, Rian Johnson, Gil Kenan, Karyn Kusama, Justin Lin, Phil Lord, David Lowery, Chris Miller, Todd Phillips, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Jay Roach, Seth Rogen, Emma Seligman, Emma Thomas, Denis Villeneuve, Lulu Wang and Chloé Zhao.