Skydance-owned Paramount Pictures has secured the lease for the Bay Theater in Pacific Palisades and plans to reopen the venue later this year following its closure due to the Palisades fire in January 2025. The theater, located within the Palisades Village shopping center, will undergo significant upgrades, including advanced projection technology and in-seat food and beverage service, according to Rick Caruso, founder and executive chairman of Caruso, the real estate company that owns the shopping center.
Paramount intends to present first-run films from all major studios at the revamped theater. Operations will be managed by the Lot, a luxury dine-in theater chain based in La Jolla, California, which currently operates four locations statewide.
Caruso described the theater’s reopening as a positive sign for Los Angeles’ recovery from the devastating fire. “Los Angeles is resilient, and we’re going to show the country that Los Angeles can bounce back from a terrible, terrible disaster,” he said. Palisades Village itself reopened in August after more than $100 million was invested in renovations and infrastructure improvements to address fire-related damage and potential contaminants.
The lease agreement’s financial details were not disclosed by Caruso or Paramount, though Caruso confirmed the arrangement is long-term. Paramount also declined to comment on the size of its investment in the project.
The Bay Theater was previously leased by Netflix, which had taken over in 2021 to use the venue for special events, screenings of classic films, and presentations of its original theatrical releases. Caruso praised Netflix and its CEO, Ted Sarandos, calling them “incredible stewards” of the theater and noting Sarandos’ professionalism in discussing Paramount’s entry.
The announcement by Paramount follows the company’s recent acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. Since completing the deal, the merged entity has adopted the Skydance name and is obligated to release at least 30 films annually as part of an antitrust settlement with multiple state attorneys general. David Ellison, Skydance’s CEO, has emphasized his passion for cinema and reaffirmed his support for theatrical film releases at industry events such as CinemaCon earlier this year.
Skydance’s return to direct theater operations comes amid a shift in studio ownership of exhibition spaces, which had been restricted for decades under the Paramount consent decrees until they were terminated in 2020. Since then, companies like Netflix have operated cinemas including the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood and the Paris Theater in New York.
Adolfo Fastlicht, founder and CEO of the Lot, said the partnership with Paramount would focus on offering curated programming and a hospitality-driven experience aimed at reconnecting the Pacific Palisades community with theatrical moviegoing “the way they were intended to be shared.”