Big Newport's Last Season and Where Newport Beach Movies Go Next

The Newport Beach Film Festival ends today, October 22, and it is probably the last festival to use the Regal Edwards Big Newport as a main venue. The theater at 300 Newport Center Drive has to close by June 30, 2027 at the latest. It could close much sooner. The Lido Theater on Via Lido will most likely become the city's main place to see a movie. The Lido is a single screen that plans its calendar by the night, not by the showtime, so movie night in Newport Beach is about to work differently.

The Deadline Is Fixed. The Actual Closing Day Isn't.

The Daily Pilot reported in March that the Edwards family decided not to extend Regal's agreement to run the theater past June 2027. The same story said Regal had told the family it would like to leave much sooner, before the end of 2026. James Edwards III, whose father founded Edwards Theatres, told the City Council the theater would close no later than June 30, 2027, "if not sooner," according to the Orange County Business Journal.

Here is how the year has gone:

1. March 2026. The Newport Beach Planning Commission approved a plan to replace the theater with two residential towers.
2. April 28, 2026. The City Council voted 7-0 to deny an appeal of that approval, Stu News Newport reported.
3. Mid-October 2026. Regal's Big Newport page was still listing showtimes.
4. October 15 to 22, 2026. The film festival held opening-night galas at Big Newport and Fashion Island.
5. End of 2026. This is when Regal said it would prefer to leave.
6. June 30, 2027. The latest possible closing date.

No final day has been announced. If you want one more film under the Art Deco marquee, plan on the coming holiday season, not next spring.

What the Site Becomes

The city's resolution approving the project allows demolition of the six-screen, 1,134-seat theater and the Body Design facility next door. Two 22-story towers, each 270 feet tall, will go up in their place. Together they hold 150 condominiums, a café and retail space, home offices, and 343 parking spaces. Related California is the applicant. The OCBJ reported that the Edwards family decided to sell the property to the company.

The city staff report found the building does not qualify as a historic resource. Its reason was that the building has been substantially modified from its original 1969 design. Jim Edwards, whose father opened Big Newport, gave the family's reason at the April hearing, as reported by the Daily Pilot. "The era of in-person movie going has fundamentally changed over the years and that is certainly true for Big Newport," he said. "People are just not going to the theater like they used to."

The Festival Has Already Started Moving

The festival shows the change first. Big Newport has long hosted the festival's opening-night screenings, and volunteers told the council that losing it would hurt, the Daily Pilot reported. A speaker at the same hearing pointed out that the New Port Theater in Corona del Mar now hosts private events, which leaves the festival with even fewer screens.

Councilmember Robyn Grant answered that concern directly. "It's unfortunate that [the festival is] going to lose an important venue," she said, according to the Daily Pilot. "But that doesn't mean that we will lose the film festival."

You can already see that future in this year's program. The official festival schedule showed "Jimmy" at the Lido Theater on October 17 and at Big Newport's Screen 5 on October 20. The Main Stage events ran at Fashion Island from October 16 to 18. Once Big Newport closes, the Lido and Fashion Island are the two venues already in place.

1,134 Seats Down to 500

The Lido opened in 1939. Restoring it took about five years, and the work won a preservation award from the Art Deco Society. It has about 500 seats on one screen. Producer Joseph "McG" Nichol and Jordan Otterbein of River Jetty Restaurant Group have run it since it reopened in 2024, the Daily Pilot reported in May.

That works out to fewer than half of Big Newport's seats, on one screen instead of six. A multiplex can run five films at once and play a new release all evening. A single screen has to choose one thing per night. The Lido has chosen to fill a lot of its nights with things other than new releases. It shows movies every week, and it has also booked comedians and musicians, including the Gipsy Kings, Dwight Yoakam and Sugar Ray.

General manager Inès Gandal told the Daily Pilot that this was the plan from the start. "Film remains the heart of the Lido, but the goal was always much broader to be a full entertainment venue," she said.

The Lido's Holiday Calendar Shows What's Coming

The Lido's events page for the rest of 2026 shows how a single-screen year works. Classic films and live shows trade nights, and each one is a dated event:

The calendar also lists more holiday films, Candlelight concerts and other screenings beyond the ones above. Every item is a set date with its own ticket. A Christmas classic on a Monday before the holiday is a date to put on the calendar. Deciding to see a movie at 6 p.m. and walking into a 7:15 show doesn't work the same way here.

When You Want This Week's New Release

For a new release on a weeknight, or a premium format, the closest options are across the city line. Each of these was listing current showtimes in October 2026:

• Regal Edwards Metro Pointe, 901 South Coast Drive, Costa Mesa.
• Starlight Triangle Square Cinemas, 1870 Harbor Blvd., Costa Mesa.
• Regal University Town Center, 4245 Campus Drive, Irvine.
• Regal Irvine Spectrum, 500 Spectrum Center Drive, Irvine, with ScreenX, 4DX, IMAX and RPX screens, according to Irvine Spectrum Center.

So moviegoing in Newport Beach is splitting two ways. The big new-release weekend moves to Costa Mesa and Irvine. In town, the Lido's calendar sets the schedule. Practical Magic plays there on Saturday, October 24.

Big Newport has meant first dates, family nights and premieres to a lot of people here since 1969, and it has until June 30, 2027 at the latest. Aballi Group follows these changes in Newport Center and on Via Lido because they shape what everyday life looks like for the people we work with. If you'd like to talk about what nearby redevelopment could mean for your own home, ask us for a free home valuation.