The downtown Claremont movie house that spent years as the Laemmle Claremont 5 has reopened under new ownership with a dramatically different look inside: every one of its roughly 400 seats is now a plush electric recliner, down from about 800 traditional seats before the remodel. Regency Theatres took over the five-screen building at 450 W. Second Street and began a quiet soft opening on October 2, followed by a grand-opening push announced for October 9.
A Soft Start Before the Big Push
Regency president Lyndon Golin said the low-key rollout was intentional, giving staff time to learn the new equipment and work out kinks before marketing the relaunch widely. As reported by Claremont Courier, Golin explained the thinking behind the slow start: “We want to get our staff trained and bugs out before we do a big push.” The theater, which Regency calls the Director's Cut Claremont, features plush recliners, wider seats, spacious aisles, larger screens, upgraded sound and renovated restrooms, according to the seed reporting behind this story.
Golin told the outlet that comfortable seating has become a competitive necessity for theaters trying to lure people away from their living rooms and streaming subscriptions. The remodel included luxury reclining chairs, the Courier reports, and every seat in the house is now a recliner — a change that cut capacity roughly in half compared with the old Laemmle configuration. Golin declined to disclose exactly how much Regency spent on the renovation, telling the Courier only, “I don't want to do that. But it's substantial.”
Ticket Prices and a Discrepancy on Tuesdays
General admission runs $14.50, with matinee tickets before 5:15 p.m. priced at $12.50 and $11.50 for seniors and children, according to the Courier's grand-opening coverage. Beyond that baseline pricing, accounts of the theater's discount days have varied: the Sun reported $7.50 tickets for all seats all day on Tuesdays, while Courier coverage described Tuesdays as $8 all day with a separate $7.50 senior matinee rate on Wednesdays. Golin has said Regency aims to keep the lowest prices in any market it serves.
The theater's senior-discount age cutoff has likewise been described inconsistently across sources tied to the seed reporting, with figures ranging from 55 to 61. By contrast, Laemmle had set its senior discount eligibility at 65 during its run in the space, per the original seed reporting behind this story.
From Art-House Programming to Family Films
Programming at the Director's Cut spans art-house fare, commercial releases and classic films on what the theater calls Flashback Wednesdays, the Courier reports. Golin personally selects the vintage film shown each week, and he has said family films will also be part of the lineup going forward. The films showing on opening day, Friday, October 2, were Digger, Verity, Primetime, Heart of the Beast and The History of Concrete.
Concessions currently consist of popcorn and candy, but Regency Director's Cut plans to add beer, wine and freshly prepared bar-style food within about a month, the Courier notes — with food ordered at the concession stand and delivered to patrons' seats rather than ordered remotely. The Courier's grand-opening story also lists beer and wine as “coming soon” alongside the expanded menu. The theater's website, regencymovies.com, notes that closed captioning and assisted-listening devices are available at the box office.
A Theater That Struggled, Then Changed Hands
The Claremont location originally opened as Laemmle Claremont 5 in 2007, according to Claremont Courier. It shut down for roughly a year during the pandemic, from March 2020 through April 2021, and never fully recovered its pre-pandemic audience afterward. Laemmle founder Greg Laemmle attributed much of that lingering softness to an older crowd that simply stopped coming back, telling the Courier, “the older audience is not back and that has been our bread and butter.”
Competition didn't help. The Courier reported that customers were drawn away by the newer AMC theater in Montclair, which offers oversized reclining seats, an IMAX screen and in-theater food delivery. Claremont City Manager Adam Pirrie, who described himself as a weekly patron of the old Claremont 5, identified the AMC 12 at Montclair Place mall as a key source of that competition, per the seed reporting, while also saying the new operators had adapted to the current market and that the city was thrilled to see the theater reopen. Laemmle ultimately sold the Claremont 5 to Regency, and the property closed for renovation in January 2026 before reopening roughly eight months later, as reported by San Bernardino Sun.
Regency's Broader Footprint
Regency Theatres is a private, family-owned chain with 28 locations across Southern California plus additional screens in Arizona, Nevada and Hawaii, the Courier reported in earlier coverage of the ownership change. The Director's Cut branding isn't unique to Claremont — Regency uses the same designation at a Laguna Niguel location, Golin noted. In the Inland Empire, Regency also operates theaters in Fontana, San Bernardino and Moreno Valley, according to the seed reporting, part of a chain that grew to 30 theaters before a post-pandemic reduction left it with 17.
The Claremont reopening fits into a much larger industry-wide spending spree. Theaters across North America have poured $2.7 billion into upgrades and innovations over the past two years aimed at keeping audiences engaged, according to Variety. In the past year alone, the industry spent $1.2 billion creating premium entertainment experiences, while the eight largest domestic circuits spent $840 million after pledging $2.2 billion for a three-year modernization push, Variety reports — money going toward premium large formats, expanded food and beverage offerings, heated recliners and immersive sound systems.
Golin has framed the Claremont bet in community terms as much as commercial ones, saying Regency wants the theater to serve as a hub and destination for the town. He pointed to Claremont's foot traffic and said the area feels like a small-town main street, with the theater facing a public square lined by restaurants and shops on its other three corners, per the seed reporting. The theater also plans to resume special screenings with the same cineastes who programmed similar events at the old Claremont 5.
Down the block, another longtime Claremont fixture is also coming back to life. Walter's Restaurant, run by the Ghafarshad family since 1973 and closed since a fire in August 2024, plans to reopen for breakfast and lunch on October 14, with dinner hours and seven-day service expected to follow as the month progresses, as noted by San Bernardino Sun. The 400-seat restaurant's return, alongside the reopened five-screen theater, adds up to a notable stretch of reinvestment in a downtown built for a city of about 36,000 residents.
