Edwards Big Newport 6
300 Newport Center Drive,
Newport Beach,
CA
92660
300 Newport Center Drive,
Newport Beach,
CA
92660
32 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 94 comments
A chronology of Orange County’s 70mm presentation history has recently been published. Edwards Newport is, of course, mentioned numerous times.
Rob Reiner’s Oscar-nominated 1992 adaptation of Aaron Sorkin’s “A Few Good Men” opened at the Big Newport 30 years ago today (Dec. 11, 1992).
Starring Tom Cruise, Demi Moore & Jack Nicholson, the military courtroom drama debuted at number one on nearly 2,000 screens and held the top or number-two spot for the next six weeks, grossing over $140 million in North America & finishing its run as the 5th highest-grossing film of 1992.
Francis Ford Coppola’s Oscar-winning 1992 adaptation of “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” opened at the Big Newport 30 years ago today (November 13, 1992).
Starring Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder & Anthony Hopkins, the gothic thriller debuted at number on over 2,400 screens with nearly $31 million its opening weekend (a then November record), grossing just shy of $83 million in North America & finishing its domestic run as the 15th highest-grossing film of 1992.
My then-girlfriend & I caught the film on the big screen that first Saturday night (after attending a co-worker’s wedding) and remember being greeted with a line down to the street, a regular occurrence for event films opening weekend.
Actually Rocky III’s $16 million opening weekend the week before was the largest in history at that time. My bad.
1982’s “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” opened at the Big Newport in 70mm 40 years ago this weekend (June 4, 1982).
Starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy & Ricardo Montalban as the titular villain, the film opened at number one with $14 million (the largest opening weekend in history at that time) on over 1600 screens, grossing $79 million and finishing its run as the 6th highest-grossing film of 1982.
The film is still widely considered the greatest Trek film ever made.
Love that this is being kept intact and draws a crowd. Would love to see pics when the curtain is open. Do they still have masking?
John Huston’s 1982 big-screen adaptation of “Annie” opened at the Big Newport 40 years ago this weekend (May 21, 1982).
Starring Albert Finney, Carol Burnett and newcomer and Aileen Quinn as the titular heroine, the film rolled out slowly on just 14 screens opening weekend, but it had the highest per-screen average ($36,474) of any other release, beating out “Conan the Barbarian” & “The Road Warrior.”
It would go on to gross $57 million against a $35 million budget, finishing its run as the 10th highest-grossing film of 1982.
I saw it opening weekend at the Big Newport as a kid & thought it played pretty well on the 71-foot screen.
John Boorman’s 1981 sword & sorcery epic “Excalibur” opened at the Big Newport 40 years ago this weekend (April 10, 1981).
The Big Newport’s rather austere new auditorium interiors can be seen in this slide show on the web site of the firm that designed the remodeling project, BB Architects.
Big Newport was among just eleven theaters in the United States that installed the then-new Dolby Digital sound system for their engagement of “Batman Returns” which opened twenty-five years ago today. And here’s the link to a retrospective article that commemorates the occasion.
1969, July 5th, 1996 and 2007 grand opening ads in photo section.
Caught “The Legend of Tarzan” over the weekend on the RPX screen. While the movie left a lot to be desired, the presentation was great, especially the Auro 11.1 sound by Barco, the first time I can recall hearing it used on the RPX screen.
Caught “The Walk” in 3D on the RPX screen last week. Presentation was great, once they got some issues fixed.
The image did not fill the screen and was both blurry and shaky to start. I had to go out twice to ask the lone concession worker to have someone fix it. Luckily the issues were resolved and the rest of the film played without incident.
Regal needs to follow the Cinerama Dome’s lead and have an attendant in the auditorium at the beginning of the presentation to make sure the picture quality is perfect. Especially when you’re paying $16.50 – $19.00 a ticket.
Looks like the new RPX screen will host its first 3D engagement this weekend with “Everest.” 3D matinee prices are only $1 more ($16.50) with evening shows $19.00.
Hey Flix and Richie, whatever petty reservations I might have about the curtains and the new color of the walls, I am really thrilled that the Big N is packed again on the weekends. last night I looked at Fandango for the evening show and MI 5 was almost sold out. There were like 20 seats left open! So what they did is working, as I never thought i would see a sold out show at this place again.
It is technically a fantastic cinema with one of the best looking pictures i have seen on one of the biggest screens in Southern Calif. If is was not 70 miles each way, I would be there a lot more.
For me, the newly renovated Big Screen did not disappoint. Although I do miss the curtain and can do without the Regal pre show, I really appreciate the extra space and comfort of this modern configuration. It’s the next logical step and feels right for this landmark of cinema. The screen looks amazing and was wide as I remembered it for today’s showing of Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation. Great sound. Good crowd. Long live Edwards Big Newport. The old man would be proud.
I agree with you about the charm being gone, RobertAlex, but I’d still take it over any other theater in Orange County. Everything here is stadium-style and completely devoid of personality. No more Cinedome; no more South Coast Plaza III. The Chinese and Cinerama Dome are still the best movie palaces in So CA, but since I rarely make it up to L.A., I’ll take what I can get down here.
I finally made it down to see AntMan at the Big N last weekend. First off, hats off to Regal for installing a laser projector, the pic has never looked better there and as Flix stated above, the screen does seem bigger. Also, cheers for keeping it as one auditorium and for not forcing us to watch something in 3D (at least for AntMan).
That is about all the good I can say. All the charm is gone, and when you walk into the auditorium and you are confronted with a huge open white screen; you might as well be in any multiplex usa. The curtains are gone. There does seem to be masking and it appears they kept the common height screen, so at least they got that right.
I really dont want to bag on the theater, I understand that changes had to be made to get butts in the seats. Many times I have been here on an opening night for a popular film and there were like 30 of us in that huge place. I just wish they kept the red curtains and didnt treat the walls as they were carpets with that tacky blue treatment that have up. Also, what is with no Dolby Atmos? The sound is still terrific, but one would think with all the money they spent they could have installed Atmos.
The remodel really makes me appreciate what they did to the Chinese up in Hollywood. I really really wanted to like what they did, but I doubt I will make the trip down to Newport Beach again to check it out for a second time.
I see “Pixels” starts tomorrow in both 2D & 3D, but not on the RPX screen.
“Ant-Man” is not screening in 3D. They’ve actually offered 3D for many years on the big screen: “Tron Legacy” and “Gravity” are a couple I can remember seeing in the format. Usually they rotate 3D in every other screening. I found it odd they didn’t offer it for “Ant-Man.” Maybe they didn’t want to scare off patrons for the RPX launch my adding even more fees.
One question. From the listing I couldn’t tell if Antman was screening in 3D. Didn’t appear to be. I don’t think they ever offered 3D before in that auditorium because of the old screen. I would imagine they have the capability now with all the new specs. The Chinese Theater has the same projector and 3D looks amazing there. Just curious.
Thank you, Flix70! I’ve been so curious about this revamp. I’ll be visiting next weekend to see M:I Rogue Nation. I’ll try to snap some additional shots. Also, I should be receiving new vintage photos soon. Thanks for sharing!
Caught “Ant-Man” at the RPX theater today. $15.50 for a matinee before noon. Only one entrance to the big screen now, off to the right. The entrance on the left side is now an enclosed little passage, encompassing the women’s restroom and an employee backroom.
Once you enter the theater, you veer to the right and follow a short passageway around to the newly renovated auditorium. Center aisles are indeed gone, rows stretch from wall to wall now. The seats are of course the leather recliners with the sliding tray tables and all the aisles slope down from the top, each with its own step. Very dark inside. The red velvet curtains have been replaced with blue carpet-like walls. Two big RPX logos are visible on either side of the un-curtained screen.
The new screen seems taller but not as wide as the old. The laser-projected 1.85:1 image looked great on the screen, crystal clear and bursting with color(especially the red Marvel logo at the beginning). I’ll be curious to see how they handle 2.40:1.
Sound was great, Dolby 7.1, no mention of Atmos. They’ve amped up the bass, as my seat rattled throughout the flick.
Overall, a pretty enjoyable experience. I’d definitely return for “The Martian,” “SPECTRE” and “The Force Awakens.” It’s obviously not like it was, and while that is a bit sad, it’s just the way things go these days. At least we have our memories. Keep those old pictures coming, Richie_T.
I added some pictures to the gallery. Keep in mind it was pretty dark in there and I wasn’t using professional equipment. You really have to see it for yourself to appreciate it.
New seating capacities at this theater following the installation of Regal’s new “king-size” recliners (via Fandango’s reserved seating service):
Theater 1 (RPX) – 453 seats
Theater 2 – 179 seats
Theater 3 – 121 seats
Theater 4 – 127 seats
Theaters 5 & 6 – 116 seats
Thanks for the heads up Flix!
From their Facebook page. “ Enjoy fully reclining chairs, a bigger silver screen, all new speakers, state-of-the-art sound and laser projector. It will be the most premium movie experience anywhere!”
I had no idea they were installing Laser projection as well as increasing the screen size. I hope that is the case. There appears to be no mention of Dolby Atmos.