Laemmle Theatres

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Laemmle Theatres is a private American arthouse movie theater chain with seven locations in Los Angeles County, California. It is owned by Robert Laemmle and his son Greg. The chain began in 1938 when Max and Kurt Laemmle, cousins of Universal Pictures founder Carl Laemmle, bought its first theater in Highland Park.

Over the years, new theaters opened and some closed. The Laemmle Grande 4-Plex on South Figueroa Street closed in 2009 to make way for LA Live’s Regal Cinema. In Glendale, a development opened in 2018 with a 5-screen Laemmle theater. Newhall 7 was completed in 2020 and opened on April 9, 2021 after delays from the pandemic, and Glendale 5 reopened on May 21, 2021. The Pasadena Playhouse 7 closed in June 2022.

Laemmle Theatres is known as a “secret path to Oscar qualifying” because independent films often use its venues to qualify for Academy Awards. The chain offers a flat rate for exhibition and gives 100% of box office receipts to the filmmakers. They also help with qualifying runs by coordinating with Academy committees and arranging bookings if needed.

The chain is featured in the 2022 documentary Only in Theaters. In 2024, Greg Laemmle and filmmaker Raphael Sbarge started the Inside the Arthouse podcast, recorded at Laemmle Royal, sharing insider perspectives on arthouse films and screening in the United States. Their website is laemmle.com.