Grauman's Egyptian Theatre

From 1998 until 2020, The Egyptian was owned and operated by the American Cinematheque,^[3] and in May 2020, Netflix bought the theater.^[4] 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.^[5]

Architecture[edit]

The exterior of the Egyptian features Egyptian Revival architecture. However, the roof panels above the main entrance are in a Mediterranean, not ancient Egyptian, style.^[7] The theater was designed with an Egyptian theme due to public fascination with Howard Carter's expeditions searching for the tomb of Tutankhamun. 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.^[21]


The building's exterior walls contain Egyptian-style paintings and hieroglyphs. The front courtyard (45 ft × 150 ft (14 m × 46 m)) was designed to capitalize on Southern 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 the Pig 'n Whistle was located west and included a side entrance direct from the restaurant to the courtyard.^[23]


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 are 4+1⁄2 feet (1.4 m) wide and rise 20 feet (6 m).


Inside, the theater originally featured Sphinx sculptures, singer's boxes, an orchestra pit, and a proscenium 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 an organ grille.^[21] 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 to Todd-AO.^[8]


In 1997, architecture and design studio Hodgetts + Fung renovated the theater and updated its technology to accommodate American Cinematheque programming.^[24] 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 the National Trust for Historic Preservation.


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.^[25] The entire renovation process, from the 1990s to 2020s, is considered a "case study in reversibility" by Los Angeles city staff.^[26]