Festival Theaters Palm Springs

Opened as the Courtyard 6, and attended by Victoria Principle and Jim & Tammy Faye Bakker. Within three years after opening, an additional four screens were added, making it the Courtyard 10. It then became the Signature 10. In 2004, Signature Theatres remodeled the cinema, bringing the screen count down to nine. The 10th theatre is apparently now used as a meeting room. The Stadium 9 is one of the homes of the annual Palm Springs Film Festival, held every January and the summer Short Fest festival.

It was eventually run by Regal Entertainment. The remodel on the cinema was amazing. It brought a simple unassuming cinema from the early-1990’s up to date, with new stadium seating, digital sound, and wide leather seats. The two largest auditoriums (#1 & #15), seat about 350 each, and have huge tall 50 foot screens with side masking. It is truly fantastic to watch a widescreen film in a way it was supposed to be presented.

There are five theatres that are anywhere from 140 to 250 seats each. Those auditoriums have top masking and the screens are anywhere from 30-40 feet each, although all those fantastic wide leather seats.

The remaining two theatres (#8 and #9), are small intimate cinemas with large leather chairs set up with tables as well. It is a very nice screening room type. Even though the screens in these two theatres are on the small side, the presentation is always fantastic, and the intimacy of the theatre really works with those numbers of seats.

Last shows at the theatre tend to be at 7:30pm or earlier, but there are later performances on Friday & Saturday evenings.

Regal closed the theatre on November 3, 2024. It was reopened as the Festival Theaters Palm Springs on December 16, 2024. The theater is independently operated by Pasadena-based tech and real estate investor Dale Okuno. The annual Palm Springs Film Festival & the summer Short Fest festival will continue to use the theater.

Recent comments (view all 8 comments)

kencmcintyre on September 15, 2007 at 4:22 pm

It looks like nine screens according to the website. Did it lose a screen during a remodel?

RobertAlex on October 14, 2010 at 5:22 pm

Last month, Regal installed Sony 4K projectors in theatres #4, #5 (large house), and #6. I have seen one 3D movie and a regular movie with the new projectors on the large screen (50 feet, side masking). Although I am still not totally sold on digital projection, especially in a house like this that always had rock solid 35mm presentation with no scratches or splices, I did notice the sound was demonstratively better.

If you ever get to Palm Springs, this is the place to see a film (along with the Camelot)!

Joe Vogel on February 21, 2013 at 10:47 am

The remodeling of this Palm Springs multiplex for Signature Theatres was designed by the San Francisco architectural firm Uesugi & Associates.

rivest266 on January 11, 2017 at 1:59 pm

Opened on November 20th, 1987

Found on Newspapers.com

rivest266 on January 11, 2017 at 3:00 pm

September 18th, 1992 grand opening ad for the extension to 10 screens in the photo section.

rivest266 on January 12, 2017 at 4:22 am

January 16th, 2004 grand opening ad also in the photo section.

BigScreen_com on October 30, 2024 at 12:09 pm

Regal will cease operating the theater on November 3, 2024, and a new operator is expected to move in.

Palm Springs, CA: Regal Palm Springs Closing, Reopening Soon Under New Management [Oct 30, 2024]

BigScreen_com on December 16, 2024 at 12:03 pm

It is now open as an independent theater called Festival Theaters:

Palm Springs, CA: Former Regal Movie Theater Reopens Under New Management [Dec 16, 2024]