Regency Theater opens in Claremont village after Laemmle’s closure

Two life-size Oscar statues greet you before the doors, an usher in a bowtie smiles at you as you walk in. Then, the smell of popcorn hits. 

On Oct. 2, the Regency Directors Cut in the Claremont Village opened in the former space of the Laemmle Theater. The flashy new theater follows the closure of the Laemmle, a beloved outpost of the local chain, in 2025.

Andrew Barber PO ’27 has been going to the Claremont theater location since he arrived at Pomona College.

“I feel like to understand how I feel about the new theater, you gotta understand how I felt about the Laemmle,” Barber said.

Laemmle Theatres was founded in Los Angeles in 1938, and grew to fame by giving independent movies the opportunity to show in LA and, by proxy, be considered for the Academy Awards. After opening many famous locations in the LA area, such as Los Feliz, Glendale and Pasadena, Laemmle opened a theater in Claremont in 2007. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, almost every part of the movie production and viewing pipeline shut down. Current projects were stopped, new films couldn’t be shot and, most importantly, theaters couldn’t run movies.

Even after the pandemic faded, the Laemmle theater in Claremont didn’t entirely return to business as usual, as the theater struggled to bring back their loyal pre-pandemic audience. Discussion of selling the theater began in 2023, with the final $4 million deal with Regency Theaters reached in 2025.

The Laemmle had a particular, somewhat eccentric charm. Barber detailed eclectic stories from experiences visiting the old theater, such as seeing “Saltburn” with only one older man in the theater, or meeting the actor Javier Bardem outside the venue after seeing “Madame Web.”

For some, the theater’s appeal was partly its unpredictability. Its weekly lineup leaned towards independent and art-house films, with the occasional mainstream release. 

For some students, the Laemmle’s niche identity made it difficult to know what to expect from a visit. Luke Chakmakian PO ’29 said that although the Laemmle was open during his first year in college, he was not inclined to go. 

“I think possibly why I might not have gone to the previous theater was due to me not really knowing what media I was walking into, being that there were smaller projects,” Chakmakian said. 

Currently, the new theater boasts the designation of “Directors Cut” from Regency, meaning it shows both independent and well regarded mainstream films. Where the Laemmle cultivated an identity around its quirks, Regency has introduced a more polished experience, complete with Oscar statues and welcoming ushers.

“[The Regency’s] fanciness is its own strange sort of façade,” Barber said of the changes.

The combination of both independent pictures and mainstream films encouraged some students to go to the theater for the first time. Chakmakian went to the Regency during its opening to see “Primetime.” 

“The Regency being a theater that shows more big projects and hits is probably going to be the thing that drives me to go,” he said.

In the post-COVID-19 streaming world, it’s no secret that movie theaters have been having a hard time. Even six years later, theaters have not yet fully recovered, bringing in around 700 million people and 7.9 billion in 2026, compared to the pre-COVID-19 1.2 billion and 11.5 billion, respectively.

Laemmle’s closure illustrates what is at stake in that balance. Its independent-film lineup offered an alternative to mainstream releases, but sustaining that model in Claremont proved difficult. Regency now has the opportunity to attract moviegoers who might not have visited Laemmle while retaining the independent films that made the location distinctive.  

Local Claremont businesses and residents were quick to wish the new theater well on social media, officially welcoming the theater to the Claremont neighborhood. Only time will tell how the new business model works for the Regency, but one thing rings true: Movie-goers still have a space in Claremont.