Studio City is set to get a movie theater again finally since the classic Studio City Theatre turned into the bookstore 20 years ago.
Maurice Safizadeh, owner of the space that held the , confirmed Monday night that the club is closed and the space will be used for theater screenings.
“There will not be anything else like this in the area,” Safizadeh said. “It will hold about 230 people.”
Ray Franco, architect for the project and self-professed film fan, said, “This will be something that is new to Studio City and a unique place to see a movie in a nice setting where you can be served food and have a drink.”
Franco said the place could open, under a different name, within two months. The space at 12215 Ventura Blvd. also has a stage and tables. The only place similar to it, Cinespace on Hollywood Boulevard, recently closed. It was opened for private events, but also held regular indie film and classic screenings for the public. The only theaters that exist now in Studio City are at the , from where the area got its name.
“This is a place that could be for someone to show a series of shorts, or have a film festival," Franco said. "If you produced a movie in Europe, you could show it here and have drinks and food. The place has a liquor license.”
Studio City doesn't have a movie theater for the public. From 1939 to 1991 the Fox Studio City Theatre operated as a movie theater that had 880 seats. The box office and Deco style remains in tact when it was transformed into a retail space and bookstore.
Franco and Safizadeh are president and vice president at the and at their last meeting, fellow board member lamented that Studio City needed a movie theater again. The board discussed possible locations of a three or four-screen Laemmle Theater in Studio City that could be housed in a space like the or the Bookstar.
