From 1998 until 2020, the Egyptian was owned and operated by the American Cinematheque,[3] and in May 2020, Netflix bought the theater.[4] Following a large restoration project, the theater re-opened in November 2023, with Netflix handling the programming Monday through Thursday and the American Cinematheque overseeing Friday through Sunday.[5]
The Egyptian was the location of world's first film premiere,[2]Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood, on Wednesday, October 18, 1922.[9] As the film reportedly cost over $1 million to produce, the admission price to the premiere was $5. One could reserve a seat up to two weeks in advance for the daily performances. Evening admission was 75¢, $1 or $1.50. The film was not shown in any other Los Angeles theater that year.[10] Premieres that took place at the Egyptian after Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood include The Ten Commandments in 1923,[11]The Thief of Bagdad[12] in 1924, and The Gold Rush in 1925.[11]
Following the opening of the Chinese, Fox West Coast Theaters operated the Egyptian as a re-run house. The theater returned to first-run premieres in 1944, when it became the exclusive Hollywood showcase for MGM, but due to 1949's United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., which barred major studios from operating movie theaters, MGM was forced to relinquish this and all its other theaters. United Artists operated this theater from 1949 to 1992, with the theater showcasing 20th Century Fox films from the 1970s onwards.[8]
In 1955, a large curved Todd-AO screen was added to the theater, with much of the theater's original proscenium arch demolished to make room for the screen.[8]
The Egyptian closed in 1992 and fell into disrepair.[10] In 1996, the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles sold the theater to the American Cinematheque for a nominal $1 with the provision that the building be restored to its original grandeur and reopened as a movie theater.[10]
The Cinematheque raised $12.8 million to pay for the restoration, and the theater was reopened to the public on December 4, 1998. The original theater seated 1,760[15] patrons in a single auditorium, while the restored Egyptian added a second theater. The main theater accommodated 616 patrons and was named after Los Angeles philanthropist Lloyd E. Rigler, while the second theater accommodated 78 was named after Steven Spielberg.[10] In addition to these renovations, the Egyptian's forecourt was restored to its original 1922 appearance, and palm trees and planters were also added.
Netflix
In April 2019, it was announced that Netflix was seeking to purchase the theater to use as a special events venue,[16] qualify its films for Oscar nominations, screen its films and television shows for Oscar and Emmy voters,[17] and that the American Cinematheque would still hold events on weekends.[18] Immediately after the announcement, a petition campaign called on the American Cinematheque board, the California Attorney General, and Los Angeles City Council to hold a public meeting about the proposed sale.[19] On May 29, 2020, it was announced that Netflix would acquire the theater and invest in renovations.[20] The theater's purchase price was reported to be $14.4 million, and the renovations, which included a seismic retrofit, totalled more than $70 million.[21]
In August 2023, the Los Angeles Times reported that Netflix had restored the theater to its original appearance.[5] This entailed restoring the original neon blade theater sign over Hollywood Boulevard and the original hieroglyphics and artwork on the courtyard walls; renovating the lobby and restoring the interior; and removing elements of the '90s restoration, including courtyard palm trees, acoustic panels in the auditorium, and the entire balcony section, lowering the seating capacity by 100 to 516 seats.[5] Additionally, modern lighting and sound upgrades have been implemented.[5] In October 2023, Netflix announced that the theater would reopen on November 9 with a screening of The Killer, followed by a Q&A session with director David Fincher. Netflix also announced the release of the documentary short film Temple of Film: 100 Years of the Egyptian Theatre, which features interviews from Guillermo del Toro, Rian Johnson, Lynette Howell Taylor, Autumn Durald Arkapaw and the theater's restoration architect Peyton Hall.[22]
The exterior of the Egyptian features Egyptian Revival architecture. However, the roof panels above the main entrance are in a Mediterranean, not ancient Egyptian, style.[7] The theater was designed with an Egyptian theme due to public fascination with Howard Carter's expeditions searching for the tomb of Tutankhamun. Previously, the theater was to have a Mediterranean-styled design, with the unconfirmed but plausible story being that Mediterranean-styled roof panels were used because they had already been delivered and paid for when the style was changed.[21]
The building's exterior walls contain Egyptian-style paintings and hieroglyphs. The front courtyard (45 ft × 150 ft (14 m × 46 m)) was designed to capitalize on Southern California's sunny weather and to host the theater's red-carpet ceremonies. Storefronts along the east side of the courtyard had an "Oriental motif" and sold imports, while the Pig 'n Whistle was located west and included a side entrance direct from the restaurant to the courtyard.[23]
Originally, the courtyard was also the theater's "entrance hall", as the front doors formerly opened directly into the auditorium. The four columns that mark the theater's main entrance are 4+1⁄2 feet (1.4 m) wide and rise 20 feet (6 m).
Inside, the theater originally featured Sphinx sculptures, singer's boxes, an orchestra pit, and a proscenium arch with a winged scarab surmounted by a medallion and snakes at its center. Additionally, the theater's centerpiece was its massive stylized sunburst device on the ceiling, which doubled as an organ grille.[21] Several of these features, including the sculptures and orchestra pit, were removed when the theater transitioned to sound, and much of the proscenium arch was demolished to make room for an enlarged screen when the theater upgraded to Todd-AO.[8]
In 1997, architecture and design studio Hodgetts + Fung renovated the theater and updated its technology to accommodate American Cinematheque programming.[24] The exterior was restored while projection, sound, seating, mechanical systems, and circulation were improved to 21st century standards. In 2000, the project won the National Preservation Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The Egyptian was further renovated from 2020 to 2023, with a focus on updating the changes made in the previous renovation. Non-original additions such as palm trees and a second-floor balcony were removed, the auditorium ceiling and Egyptian scarab at the proscenium were restored, and the theater technology was modernized again.[25] The entire renovation process, from the 1990s to 2020s, is considered a "case study in reversibility" by Los Angeles city staff.[26]
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