The Egyptian Theater gets new life with Netflix, 25 years after it reopened – The Hollywood Reporter
In December 1998, Charlton Heston and his wife Lydia attended the grand reopening of the American Cinematheque, receiving a reception in Egyptian costume.
Mike Nelson/AFP/Getty Images
More than a century after its premiere, the Egyptian Theater on Hollywood Boulevard is coming back to life after a restoration that kept it dark for three years. But this isn’t the warehouse’s first transformation.
Sid Grauman’s homage to Egyptian culture — which predates his Chinese Theater on the same street by five years — debuted in 1922 and hosted the first Hollywood premiere in history, of a Douglas Fairbanks film. Robin Hood. After the theater closed in the early 1990s and was nearly destroyed by the 1994 Northridge earthquake, it was purchased for $1 in 1996 by the nonprofit Cinema of America. The grand reopening took place two years later, with Charlton Heston and Quentin Tarantino in attendance.
“This is the theater where Hollywood was born, and now it’s the equivalent in our industry of the Getty Theater,” said film producer Steve Tisch. Hollywood Reporter on time.
According to American Cinematheque Chairman Rick Niceta, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos reached out in 2019 about purchasing the theater. The collaboration worked, with American Cinematheque set to show reference titles on weekends while Netflix screens its own films during the week.
Theater in 1932
Peyton Hall, the restoration architect for the latest renovation, focused on updating the changes made in the 1990s, including removing the exterior palm trees and adding modern technology, all while respecting the initial vision for the place. The renovations also included restoring the auditorium ceiling and the Egyptian scarab in the proscenium, removing the balcony and acoustic panels, and reducing the number of seats by 100 to 516 seats.
“When you walk into the hall, your experience of the walls and ceilings looks more like it did in 1922 than it did since the 1930s,” Hall says. Al Masry – which was declared a city landmark in 1993 – reopens on November 9 with Netflix the killer Q&A with director David Fincher; The streamer will also release a short documentary titled The Film Temple: 100 Years of Egyptian Theater.
rick nikita, Movie temple Director Angus Wall and Ted Sarandos attend an Egyptian Theater press event on November 6.
“Netflix is still a relatively new part of the film industry, and it’s important for us to contribute to this community that has given us so much,” Sarandos says. THR. “Restoring this theater has been a labor of love for everyone involved.”
This story first appeared in the Nov. 8 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
