Egyptian Theatre | |
 The Black Pirate premiere at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre, 1926 | |
  Location of building inLos Angeles County | |
| Location | 1650–1654 McCadden Pl & 6706–6712 Hollywood Blvd.,Hollywood,Los Angeles,California |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 34°06′03″N118°20′11″W / 34.10083°N 118.33639°W /34.10083; -118.33639 |
| Built | 1922 |
| Architect | Meyer & Holler |
| Architectural style | Egyptian Revival |
| Part of | Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District (ID85000704) |
| LAHCM No. | 584 |
| Significant dates | |
| Designated CP | April 4, 1985 |
| Designated LAHCM | September 21, 1993 |
Grauman's Egyptian Theatre, also known asEgyptian Hollywood andthe Egyptian, is a historicmovie theater located onHollywood Boulevard inHollywood, Los Angeles, California.[1] Opened in 1922, it is an early example of a lavishmovie palace and is noted as having been the site of the world's first filmpremiere,[2] however, its popularity was supplanted byGrauman's Chinese Theatre when it opened five years later.[3]
From 1998 until 2020, the Egyptian was owned and operated by theAmerican Cinematheque,[4] and in May 2020,Netflix bought the theater.[5] 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.[6]
The Egyptian was built by showmanSid Grauman and real estate developerCharles E. Toberman,[7] who subsequently built the nearbyEl Capitan Theatre andChinese Theatre.[7] Grauman had previously opened one of the United States's first movie palaces, theMillion Dollar Theater, part of theBroadway Theater District inDowntown Los Angeles.[8] The Egyptian cost $800,000 ($15 million in2024) and took 18 months to construct. ArchitectsMeyer & Holler designed the building, and it was built by Meyer & Holler affiliate, the Milwaukee Building Company.[9]
The Egyptian was the location of world's first film premiere,[2]Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood, on Wednesday, October 18, 1922.[10] As the film reportedly cost over $1 million ($18.8 million in2024) to produce, the admission price to the premiere was $5 ($93.93 in2024). 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 otherLos Angeles theater that year.[11] Premieres that took place at the Egyptian afterDouglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood includeThe Ten Commandments in 1923,[12]The Thief of Bagdad[13] in 1924, andThe Gold Rush in 1925.[12]
In 1927, Grauman opened a second movie theater further west onHollywood Boulevard. In keeping with the public's fascination with international themes, he named his new theater theChinese Theatre.[11] Its popularity surpassed the Egyptian, most likely due to the Chinese'scelebrity handprints, footprints, and signatures in the concrete of its forecourt.[3]
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 forMGM, but due to 1949'sUnited 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 showcasing20th Century Fox films from the 1970s onwards.[9]
In 1955, a large curvedTodd-AO screen was added to the theater, with much of the theater's originalproscenium arch demolished to make room for the screen.[9]
In 1984, theHollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District was added to theNational Register of Historic Places, with the Egyptian Theatre listed as acontributing property in the district.[14] In 1992, the theater closed and fell into disrepair.[11] In 1993, it was designated aLos Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument.[15]
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In 1996, the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles sold the theater to theAmerican Cinematheque for a nominal $1 with the provision that the building be restored to its original grandeur and reopened as a movie theater.[11]
The Cinematheque raised $12.8 million ($28.7 million in2024) to pay for the restoration, and the theater was reopened to the public on December 4, 1998. The original theater sat 1,760[16] 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 philanthropistLloyd E. Rigler, while the second theater accommodated 78 and was named afterSteven Spielberg.[11] In addition to these renovations, the Egyptian's forecourt was restored to its original 1922 appearance, and palm trees and planters were also added.
In April 2019, it was announced thatNetflix was seeking to purchase the theater to use as a special events venue,[17] qualify its films forOscar nominations, screen its films and television shows for Oscar andEmmy voters,[18] and that the American Cinematheque would still hold events on weekends.[19] Immediately after the announcement, a petition campaign called on the American Cinematheque board, theCalifornia Attorney General, andLos Angeles City Council to hold a public meeting about the proposed sale.[20] On May 29, 2020, it was announced that Netflix would acquire the theater and invest in renovations.[21] The theater's purchase price was reported to be $14.4 million ($17.5 million in2024), and the renovations, which included a seismic retrofit, totalled more than $70 million ($85 million in2024).[22]
In August 2023, theLos Angeles Times reported that Netflix had restored the theater to its original appearance.[6] 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 to 516 seats.[6] Additionally, modern lighting and sound upgrades were implemented.[6] In October 2023, Netflix announced that the theater would reopen on November 9 with a screening ofThe Killer, followed by a Q&A session with directorDavid Fincher. Netflix also announced the release of the documentary short filmTemple of Film: 100 Years of the Egyptian Theatre, which features interviews fromGuillermo del Toro,Rian Johnson,Lynette Howell Taylor,Autumn Durald Arkapaw and the theater's restoration architectPeyton Hall.[23]
The exterior of the Egyptian featuresEgyptian Revival architecture. However, the roof panels above the main entrance are in a Mediterranean, not ancient Egyptian, style.[8] The theater was designed with an Egyptian theme due to public fascination withHoward Carter's expeditions searching for the tomb ofTutankhamun. 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.[22]
The building's exterior walls contain Egyptian-style paintings andhieroglyphs. The front courtyard (45 ft × 150 ft (14 m × 46 m)) was designed to capitalize onSouthern 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 thePig 'n Whistle was located west and included a side entrance direct from the restaurant to the courtyard.[24] 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 are4+1⁄2 feet (1.4 m) wide and rise 20 feet (6 m).[citation needed]
Inside, the theater originally featuredSphinx sculptures, singer's boxes, an orchestra pit, and aproscenium 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 anorgan grille.[22] 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 toTodd-AO.[9]
In 1997, architecture and design studioHodgetts + Fung renovated the theater and updated its technology to accommodate American Cinematheque programming.[25] 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 theNational Trust for Historic Preservation.[citation needed]
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.[26] The entire renovation process, from the 1990s to 2020s, is considered a "case study in reversibility" by Los Angeles city staff.[27]
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The layout, design, and name of the Egyptian Theatre was emulated by other movie palaces across North America, including those inBala Cynwyd,Boise,Concord,Coos Bay,DeKalb,Delta,El Dorado,Hanover,Montreal,Ogden,Park City,Pasadena, andSeattle.
The Egyptian was featured in episode 712 ofVisiting... with Huell Howser.[28]
The theater is the location of a gunfight during the conclusion of a case in the 2011 video gameL.A. Noire.
The theater appears inJonathan Franzen's 2021 novelCrossroads.
