WESTWOOD—On July 21, Regency Theaters announced that they would be closing the historic Bruin theater located at 948 Broxton Avenue and the Village Theater at 961 Broxton Avenue. According to Regency Theaters the lease for both theaters will expire this Thursday, July 25th.
The Olde Bruin Theater was designed by the movie theater architect, S. Charles Lee. It opened for the first time on January 1, 1937. According to their website, the theater originally had glow-in-the-dark stencil designs. The name Bruin was chosen for the UCLA mascot, Joe Bruin.
In 1973, Mann Theaters took over the lease of the property. Then, in 2009 Mann Theaters announced that both Bruin and Westwood Village Theatre’s leases would expire. Regency took over the operation of both theaters in 2010.
The Regency Village Theater was built in 1931. It is best known for its 170-foot tower along with the neon FOX sign. Many famous movies had scenes filmed at the aged-old theater, including, but not limited to, “Batman,” “Shrek,” “Harry Potter,” and some of the James Bond films.
The presence of both theaters brought some nostalgia to the historical section of town. There is no indication that another company will be assuming the leases.
By Sharon