
TCL Chinese Theatre
6925 Hollywood Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90028
6925 Hollywood Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90028
161 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 50 of 1,682 comments
Someone needs to tell the news stations that Oppenheimer is not the first time there was an early morning show at the Chinese. All the LA stations are saying how the 6:00 am show is the earliest show they have ever run; WRONG. I seem to remember a movie called Star Wars and they ran the theater pretty much around the clock for weeks.
Capacity here doesn’t match details. TCL Chinese (1-)6 Theatres originally seated 1,446 at its November 9, 2001 launch as Mann Chinese 6. Adding auditorium “7” - the original screen - seating 932 in its IMAX conversion in Sept. 2013 would take capacity at that time to 2,378 (if I’m understanding the entry above)..
In TCL’s $2-million refresh of Auditorium 2 to MX4D motion effect seating in December 2017, the capacity of auditorium 2 was reduced to 102. This would take TCL Chinese Theatres 1-6 to - at most - a capacity of 1,371 and with IMAX auditorium 7 (the original screen) at 932 taking capacity of the so-called seven-plex to 2,303.
In terms of naming, Mann operated the new six-plex theatre separately at its 2001 launch as Mann’s Chinese 6 at 6801 H'wood Blvd. and retained the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre moniker for the venerable 6925 H-Blvd venue . So wouldn’t this facility be also known as something like Grauman’s Chinese Theatre | Mann’s Chinese 6 or Mann’s Chinese 6 & Grauman’s Chinese theaters - or some such - for its 12 years of operating the then separate houses?
Finally, shouldn’t the address of the so-called seven-plex be altered to 6801 & 6925 Hollywood Boulevard? The venues are in multiple buildings and the current address misses the preponderance of auditoriums and overall capacity (possibly 1,371 of the 2,303 seats if the details are correct).
https://www.fandango.com/tcl-chinese-theatres-imax-aaacd/theater-page?date=2022-09-03
Will the Chinese Theatre be participating in “National Cinema Day” on Saturday, September 3rd, with tickets priced at just $3? More details of the industry event reported here
Screened the World premiere of the Movie “Grease”. RIP Olivia Newton-John!!!! 😓💔🎤🎶📀📽️🎬🎞️📺
Here’s one way it’s relevant. When the Academy first proposed their new theatre they presented it to the community as a place for small revival screenings, no new movie premieres. This is important because movie premieres is a major source of revenue for the Chinese Theatre. If the Academy goes against what they promised it will hurt the Chinese, and piss off the immediate neighbors. I personally don’t care how “state of the Art” the Academy is, it will never have the prestige of a grand opening in the Chinese Forecourt!
I’m sure that’s valuable information, but what does it have to do with the Chinese theatre exactly?
The new theaters at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles are state of the art.
BIgJoe: Yes. Specifically, they’re talking about the old Fox Village, now referred to as the Westwood Village.
Hello-
I’m slightly confused by the info about the Westwood stated by my fellow posters. I’m interested in grand old movie theaters built from the get go as 1st runs venues and have continued to operate as such since the day they opened. does the Westwood fit that category?
Great historic landmark. I really enjoyed my visit. 5 Stars. By Gregg L. Friedman MD
bigjoe: It’s not first run and never really was, but the Loew’s 175th St. in Manhattan, now known as United Palace, shows classic movies once in a while. They recently showed The Godfather and Raiders of the Lost Ark. I saw All About Eve there recently. The theater itself has been restored beautifully.
Hello-
Escott N.-
L.A. with the Chinese and the Westwood must be one of the very very few cities in the U.S. with 2 grand old movie theaters that were built as 1st run venues from the get go and have continued to operate as such since the day they opened. Manhattan doesn’t have any.
I am puzzled by RogerA’s comment, there are quite a few “good” theatres left in Los Angeles, and in my opinion, some magnificent ones, like the Chinese, El Cap, Hollywood Legion, United Artists, Palace, Los Angeles, United Artists, Orpheum, Million Dollar, etc. I was just at the Westwood Village for Last Remaining Seats and it seems well maintained with good sound and picture, clean throughout, and an attentive staff. not sure about the curtain, but that would be low on my list, very few theatre even HAVE curtains any more, sadly.
As for bigjoe59’s query, I agree with silver that the Westwood Village should be included, it was built as a first run theatre, and still shows the biggest first run films. The exterior of the theatre is almost all original, including the marquee which has changed very little. It is probably one of the oldest original marquees still being used in Los Angeles.
The Village theater was once a premier venue. Current management hasn’t done any real maintenance for years. The curtain has been broken for a while. Are there any good theaters left in Los Angeles? The Million Dollar in downtown, one of the oldest theaters in Los Angeles, is running movies again.
Reply to: bigjoe59 May 2, 2022 comment . How about the Westwood Village Theater? (now run by Regency). Opened 1931 with 1489 seats (currently has 1341). Info from its page: cinematreasures.org/theaters/246 . It has a huge lobby, & outstanding sound & projection. And many of us consider it to be the best old theater in Los Angeles (the overpriced Chinese notwithstanding), but that’s subjective, of course.
Hello-
since discovering this wonderful site I decided to see what grand old theaters built in the U.S. between 1914-1941 were still alive and well. there is of course the Castro in San Francisco but that was built from the get go as a 2nd/3rd run neighborhood theater. I was interested in what grand old movie theater(s) built from the get go as a 1st run venue had continued to operate as such since the day it opened. the only one I have found so far in my research is this theater.
Wow, I’ve noticed that the web address for this entry ends in “theaters/1”, which seems to indicate that the Chinese Theatre was the very first cinema to be listed on Cinema Treasures.
And this comment of mine is #1650 (or #1642 according to the tally in the comments section), going back 20 years… : )
CBS Saturday Morning news segment, “The History of the Forecourt of the Stars,” from April 30th, 2022:
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/the-history-of-the-forecourt-of-the-stars-the-tcl-chinese-theatre/#x
Says that the tradition of leaving imprints in the courtyard began 95 years ago today when actress Norma Talmadge accidentally stepped in freshly poured cement, then Sid Grauman who was giving her, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks a tour of the theater asked them to put their footprints, handprints and autographs. Also mentions the imprints have aged well due to a top secret cement recipe.
Los Angeles Times link with multiple photos of various stars placing hand prints in the forecourt.
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-chinese-theatre-handprints-celebrity-20170518-htmlstory.html
The line added to the description is badly phrased. The new zoning code was not aimed at the Chinese Theatre, but is simply a provision to allow housing to be built on land that was previously reserved exclusively for commercial use. Nobody is going to knock down one of the city’s most successful tourist attractions to put up apartments, especially when the same code change opens up many thousands of acres of lower value commercial properties (and their parking lots) for residential use.
The Chinese is NOT, I repeat NOT in danger of being torn down for housing. A local preservation group took something out of context and starting this scare campaign to boost attention to their org. The LA City Planning Dept responded that the theatre is not in any danger. The rezoning is part of a citywide effort to promote more housing opportunities, allowing areas that previously couldn’t build housing to have the option.
If you are right that last paragraph needs to be rewritten because it makes it sound like the theater is in danger of being torn down.
I read somewhere else they’re working on tearing it down and if you read the last paragraph here it doesn’t talk about the surrounding area it’s talking about the theater specifically. Also it seems landmark status means little today.
The Chinese Theater has landmark status I doubt they will tear it down to build housing. Everything around it maybe.