Kristen Stewart is Reimagining LA's Shuttered Highland Theater
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In an unexpected plot twist, actor-director Kristen Stewart has become the new owner of the Highland Theatre, after the landmark venue closed in 2024, just shy of its 100th birthday.
“I didn’t realize I was looking for a theater until this place came to my attention. Then it was like a gunshot went off and the race was on. I ran toward it with everything I had,” Stewart told Architectural Digest. “I’m fascinated by broken-down old theaters. I always want to see what mysteries they hold.” Built in 1925, the Highland Theatre operated as a neighborhood cinema for decades, but went dormant around the pandemic and struggled to rebound. Stewart plans to honor the theater’s old bones while reimagining it as a “space to gather and scheme and dream together.”
Born and raised in Los Angeles to parents who both worked in the entertainment industry, Stewart's film breakthrough came at age 12 for her role as the daughter of Jodie Foster's character in the thriller Panic Room (2002) and went on to achieve international stardom starring in The Twilight Saga film series (2008 - 2012), which ranks among the highest-grossing film franchises.
Now, aged 36, she has stepped into yet another cinematic role as the owner of a cinema, rather than a star on the screen. She says: “I think there’s a way to bring the building back to life in a way that embraces its history but also brings something new to the neighborhood and something new to the whole LA film community. That’s the point - new ideas.”
Stewart is determined to recapture the glamour of Hollywood’s Golden Age while positing a new kind of social cinema experience. “I see it as an antidote to all the corporate bullshit, a place that takes movie culture away from just buying and selling. I think there’s a huge desire and craving for what this kind of space can offer.”
Not very far away, there is a Man on a Mission to Save Landmark Hollywood Theater. Since its opening in 1963, the Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles has hosted many notable events, including the Hollywood Film Festival, cementing its status as a landmark for the film industry. “We saved the Cinerama Dome from being demolished in 1998. I believe it can be saved again.”