Quentin Tarantino Revives the New Beverly Theater

In 2007, Quentin Tarantino bought the New Beverly Theater in Los Angeles, California to save the historic property from redevelopment. Today, the cinema announced it would undergo significant upgrades and enhancements over the next several months.

“We would like to thank everyone for their patience while we have been working to get a target date for the re-opening of the New Beverly Cinema,” according to a statement from the theater. “If everything goes as planned, we are looking at a December 2018 re-opening. While we are doing a lot of behind the scenes work to upgrade the theater, rest assured when we re-open, you will find the vintage New Beverly Cinema that we all know and love.”

The movie theater opened in the 1920s, and in 1978, then-owner Sherman Torgan started the double feature format, screening movies back-to-back for audiences.

“It was going to be turned into a Supercuts,” Tarantino commented when he bought the New Beverly 11 years ago. “I’d been coming to the New Beverly ever since I was old enough to drive there from the South Bay — since about 1982. So, I couldn’t let that happen.”

Since purchasing the movie house, the writer and director has done much of the monthly programming, screening 35mm and 16mm prints from his private collection.

“As long as I’m alive, and as long as I’m rich, the New Beverly will be there, showing double features in 35mm,” Tarantino said.

Tarantino’s love for old movies has been a constant part of his career. All of his films are inspired by the genres and styles of forgotten times, from spaghetti westerns to early kung fu movies. He even sets the climax for his 2009 movie, Inglourious Basterds, in an historic Parisian cinema. It’s refreshing to see an acclaimed director provide the public with a place where they can enjoy classic films and learn from these auteurs.