LA’s Iconic Egyptian Theatre Sets Reopening Date with ‘The Killer,’ ‘Maestro,’ and a 70mm Festival

Christian Blauvelt
·2 min read
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It’s been over three years since Netflix announced it bought LA’s iconic Egyptian Theatre, the Hollywood Boulevard landmark that opened in 1922 and hosted the first-ever Hollywood premiere for Allan Dwan’s “Robin Hood” starring Douglas Fairbanks.

Now, after an extensive renovation, the Egyptian’s reopening date is set: November 9 is when Netflix, in partnership with the American Cinematheque, will open the doors of this landmark once more. It’ll do so with quite the event: a screening of David Fincher’s “The Killer,” one of the streamer’s top Oscar contending titles this fall, followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker himself.

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That day, Netflix will also stream a short documentary titled “Temple of Film: 100 Years of the Egyptian Theatre” in celebration of the event. The film features interviews with Rian Johnson, Guillermo del Toro, Lynette Howell Taylor, Autumn Durald Arkapaw, and the theater’s restoration architect Peyton Hall.

In March, Netflix announced that longtime IFC Center senior VP and general manager John Vanco had joined the company to lead all programming for Netflix movie theaters, starting with the Paris Theatre in New York City and the Bay Theater in Pacific Palisades. But it’ll remain the American Cinematheque curating the Egyptian’s repertory offerings, including a 70mm festival titled “The American Cinematheque Presents: Ultra Cinematheque 70 Fest 2023” that’ll run from November 10 to November 21. That lineup will ostensibly preclude the possibility of any non-70mm titles from screening during that time, given the additional complexities involved with projecting in the ultra-wide format.

Making this their marquee event of the fall telegraphs right away that cinephilia will be the order of the day for the Egyptian, and that it will be more than just a showcase for Netflix titles — the American Cinematheque remains a partner for the theater, after all.

That said, it was always understood that during awards season Netflix titles would receive elevated play at the Egyptian and the other Netflix-owned theaters. So, from November 22 to December 7, Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro” will be exhibited at the Egyptian in Dolby Atmos. The film was greeted with an absolutely rhapsodic reception at the recent New York Film Festival, after a Venice premiere.

And on December 5 the short film “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” by Wes Anderson, based on the story by Roald Dahl, will screen, along with other short films made over the past few decades by the director.

The second century of the Egyptian begins…

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