With its towering columns and courtyard decorated with faux hieroglyphics, the Egyptian Theater hosted Hollywood’s first red carpet more than a century ago, before falling into disrepair. But this cult American cinema is now reborn under the auspices of Netflix. Restored to all its former splendor, this temple of cinema will reopen its doors on Thursday in Los Angeles, after years struggling to maintain its façade.
For the streaming giant, usually portrayed as the gravedigger of the seventh art, saving this institution that dates back to the golden age of Hollywood is a way to affirm its now essential place in the industry. “Hollywood is about symbols,” Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos told AFP. “The Hollywood Sign and this theater are probably the two most iconic symbols of Hollywood…This one, unfortunately, was falling apart.”
Inspired by ancient Egypt, a popular theme in California during the Roaring Twenties, the theater opened its doors in 1922, with the world premiere of Douglas Fairbanks’ “Robin Hood.” At the time, organizers celebrated the occasion with staff dressed in Egyptian costumes and rolled out a red carpet in the courtyard to welcome illustrious guests, such as Charlie Chaplin. Taken from the traditions of European royalty, this innovation will be adopted around the world and remains an essential marker of major festivals and screenings.
Earthquake
Despite its successful beginnings, the Egyptian Theater subsequently experienced difficulties. A few years after its opening, its owner lost interest and built the “Chinese Theater” not far from Hollywood Boulevard, which would become a must-see stop for tourists in Los Angeles, to admire the footprints of celebrities frozen in the cement. “El Egipcio” was severely damaged by an earthquake that struck Los Angeles in 1994.
The American Cinematheque, a non-profit organization that took over the building after the incident, managed to restore it but had great difficulty financing its maintenance. Until the heavyweight Netflix reached into its pocket for a new renewal. Sand-colored columns, colored hieroglyphs, a giant beetle on the stage: the work faithfully reproduces the aesthetics of the beginning, while equipping the place with state-of-the-art audiovisual equipment. An operation estimated by experts at around 70 million dollars (the company does not provide figures).
“They came and formed a wonderful partnership with us,” said American Cinematheque president Rick Nicita. “They understood what we were trying to do.” The organization will continue to offer classics like “Lawrence of Arabia” on weekends, and Netflix will now be able to screen its own productions during the week. On Thursday, the streaming giant will begin broadcasting “The Killer” by David Fincher.
“We rent venues all the time, in New York and Los Angeles, to host our premieres and events,” Ted Sarandos recalled. Therefore, investing funds to preserve this institution seems like a win-win situation to him.
After the “Paris Theater”
After having absorbed into its orbit the best directors and stars of the big screen in recent years, Netflix offers itself a room full of history, like the “Paris Theater” in New York, which it has already taken over. years ago. A way to demonstrate that the streaming platform that has revolutionized the seventh art can also respect its traditions. This renewal is a kind of “down payment for the next 100 years” of Hollywood, continues Ted Sarandos, by a young company that “has not contributed much” to world cinema in the last century.
However, the project will not silence criticism from movie theater operators. Many of them criticize Netflix for refusing to release its films in theaters – or only for a very limited time – while competitors like Apple now grant a real broadcast for several weeks in theaters to big productions like “Killers of the Flower Moon.” .
But Ted Sarandos rejects this debate. “In many ways, streaming saved the entertainment industry,” he recalls. And the renovation of the Egyptian Theater “is also a symbol of this.”
Source: BFM TV
