Westwood’s long-dark Bruin Theater is expected to reopen in mid-October, bringing the 1937 movie palace back with a new operator, restored film projection and a familiar promise: big-screen movies in a neighborhood that has been missing them.
According to MyNewsLA, Toronto-based theater operator Rui Pereira has signed a lease with the Martyn Skouras family, which owns the building. Pereira told Deadline that he wants to preserve the venue’s character rather than scrub away its history, a sensible approach for a theater whose greatest feature may be that it still looks like a movie theater.
The 670-seat venue is expected to show a mix of first-run movies, revivals and special events, The Canyon News reported. The theater’s 35mm and 70mm projectors are also slated to return, alongside an upgraded digital projection system, giving Westwood a rare place where “film presentation” means more than a menu setting.
A 1937 movie palace gets a careful reset
The Bruin went dark after Regency Theatres’ lease expired in July 2024, ending more than a decade of operation under the company. MyNewsLA’s earlier coverage noted that the theater’s future was uncertain when the two historic Westwood cinemas closed together.
Pereira is planning upgrades without turning the single-screen house into an anonymous multiplex. The seats and screen are reportedly in good condition, while two small upstairs screening rooms could eventually be added, creating more flexibility without giving up the Bruin’s main-room identity.
The return of the Bruin also gives Westwood’s moviegoing revival a second act. The neighboring Village Theatre, which sits across the street, is being restored by a coalition of filmmakers led by Jason Reitman; the Los Angeles Times reported that the project is intended to restore a major gathering place for UCLA students and local filmgoers.
Westwood’s theater comeback is taking shape
The Village is expected to reopen in 2027 under the American Cinematheque, with programming planned around new releases, repertory films, filmmaker conversations and special events. In its own announcement, the American Cinematheque described the partnership as part of a broader effort to preserve the century-old movie palace.
If the Bruin’s mid-October target holds, Westwood could have one historic theater back this fall and another preparing for a larger return next year. The timing also fits a wider Los Angeles push to revive shuttered movie landmarks, including Sony Pictures’ planned 2028 reopening of Hollywood’s Cinerama Dome and the former ArcLight complex, as MyNewsLA reported.
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