The Fox Theatre, Westwood Village, also known as the Fox Village Theatre, is a historic, landmark cinema in Westwood, Los Angeles, California. Westwood Village, in the heart of Westwood, is near the University of California, Los Angeles

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

. It is currently operated by Regency Theaters under the name Regency Village Theatre. The Fox is one of the leading film premiere theaters.

History

Designed by architect Percy Parke Lewis, the Fox was originally built in 1930 and first opened on August 14, 1931, with a Spanish Mission style to it. The theatre was part of a widespread cinema construction program undertaken by

Fox West Coast Theatres Fox Theatres was a large chain of movie theaters in the United States dating from the 1920s either built by Fox Film studio owner William Fox, or subsequently merged in 1929 by Fox with the West Coast Theatres chain, to form the Fox West Co ...

. The Fox Theatre quickly became the most recognizable symbol of the new Westwood Village, a

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on th ...

-style village development adjoining the University of California Los Angeles planned by Harold and Edwin Janss of the Janss Investment Company. It was remodeled in the late 1940s to the early 1950s. It became famous for the many Hollywood movie premieres held there and remains one of the main venues for movie premieres in Los Angeles. National General Theatres, the former Fox Theatres-West Coast, sold the theater to Ted Mann, then owner of the Chinese Theatre, and it became part of the Mann Theatres chain. In 1988, the Fox Theatre was designated by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission as an Historic Cultural Monument (HCM #362). When Mann Theatres went out of business, Regency Theatres purchased both the Village Theatre and a multiplex cinema at "The Plant" in

Van Nuys, California Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1909 ...

in 2010. With ongoing efforts to revitalize Westwood Village, the Fox Theatre continues to be a major drawcard and asset for the area.

Architectural features

The most striking feature of the Fox Theater is the iconic 170-foot white Spanish Revival/

Moderne Moderne may refer to: * Moderne architecture, styles of architecture popular from 1925–1940s * PWA Moderne, an architectural style in the U.S., 1933–1944 * Streamline Moderne Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco archit ...

An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles - David Gebhard, Robert Winter (Gibbs Smith) 2003 tower which looms over the Broxton and Weyburn Avenues intersection. Atop the tower is a blue and white metal

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...

“Fox” sign, which was renovated in the late 1980s. Carved winged lions sit halfway up the tower at the base of projecting columns. A blue and white sign with the legend "Fox Westwood Village" is positioned at the bottom of the tower just above the entrance. By night, the elegant white tower literally becomes a beacon with its signs and the shaft of the tower illuminated. The rectangular cinema building immediately behind the tower features long rows of

Churrigueresque Churrigueresque (; Spanish: ''Churrigueresco''), also but less commonly "Ultra Baroque", refers to a Spanish Baroque style of elaborate sculptural architectural ornament which emerged as a manner of stucco decoration in Spain in the late 17th ...

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

decorations. Perched atop the corners of the building stand carved

griffins The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail, and back ...

Interior

The seating capacity of the cinema is about 1,400. The interior of the theater was remodeled during the late 1940s and early 1950s. The lobby and exits were upgraded and California Gold Rush artwork was added in the lobby. Golden flourishes were added near the stage areas. In the late 1970s new 70mm projection equipment was installed and a larger screen added. The Fox Westwood Village has a reputation for top quality sound and projection. The most recent re-modeling was about 1998-1999 with the theater getting new seating and carpet. In 2014, Regency added the immersive Dolby Atmos sound system to the theater in time for the movie ''

Transcendence Transcendence, transcendent, or transcendental may refer to: Mathematics * Transcendental number, a number that is not the root of any polynomial with rational coefficients * Algebraic element or transcendental element, an element of a field exten ...

''. It remains one of the few remaining

THX THX Ltd. is an American company that develops the eponymous high fidelity audio/visual reproduction standards for movie theaters, screening rooms, home theaters, computer speakers, gaming consoles, car audio systems, and video games. Founded ...

certified theatres in Los Angeles.

Movie premieres

A number of movie premieres have been held at the cinema, including: '' Robots'', '' The Fast and the Furious'', '' A Star Is Born'', '' Spider-Man: No Way Home'', '' Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse'', '' Spider-Man'', ''

Spider-Man 2 ''Spider-Man 2'' is a 2004 American superhero film directed by Sam Raimi and written by Alvin Sargent from a story by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar and Michael Chabon. Based on the fictional Marvel Comics character of the same name, it is t ...

'', James Bond films, ''

JFK John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

'', '' Mission: Impossible'', ''

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book '' Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939 ...

'', each ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students a ...

'' film, '' Independence Day'', '' Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines'', '' The Emoji Movie, The Lego Movie'', '' Shrek'', '' Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie'', '' Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs'' franchise, ''

Overlord An overlord in the English feudal system was a lord of a manor who had subinfeudated a particular manor, estate or fee, to a tenant. The tenant thenceforth owed to the overlord one of a variety of services, usually military service or s ...

'', ''

Venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a ...

'', ''

Murder Mystery Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

'', '' Hairspray'' and hundreds of others. Typically the streets get shut down and are used for red carpet arrivals. The 1999 music video for "

Praise You "Praise You" is a song by British big beat musician Fatboy Slim. It was released as the third single from his second studio album, ''You've Come a Long Way, Baby'' (1998), on 4 January 1999. It reached number one on the UK Singles Chart and in ...

" by Fatboy Slim was filmed on the sidewalk adjacent to the Fox Theater.

References

{{LAHMC Cinemas and movie theaters in Los Angeles Movie palaces Westwood, Los Angeles Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments Event venues established in 1931 Towers in California Mediterranean Revival architecture in California