Going on two years after the wildfires that devastated Pacific Palisades and other Los Angeles-area neighborhoods, a popular moviehouse is ready for its closeup. Paramount Pictures and real estate developer Rick Caruso said Tuesday that the Bay Theater in Palisades Village will reopen before year’s end.
The high-end five-screen venue at 1035 N. Swarthmore Ave., shuttered since the Palisades Fire in early January 2025, is being restored, and luxury cinema operator The Lot will manage it. Along with first-run movies and classics, the Bay will host special screenings and immersive theatrical experiences, said Paramount, which is taking over the theater formerly operated by Netflix and Cinepolis before that.
“Together with Caruso, we are proud to help bring the Bay back to life as a place for the Pacific Palisades community to gather around the shared experience of cinema,” said David Ellison, chairman and CEO of Skydance. “This theater has always meant more than movies alone — it’s woven into the fabric of this neighborhood, and helping restore it is a privilege. We’re inspired by the resilience of Pacific Palisades residents, and we’re honored to help support this community’s comeback.”
The surrounding Caruso-owned Palisades Village reopened during the summer, and now the Bay Theater is set open its doors by the end of 2026, though no date is set.
The original Bay Theater opened down the road on Sunset Boulevard in 1949 before closing in 1978. The venue’s current iteration debuted in 2018.
“The Bay has always been at the heart of the Palisades,” said Caruso, who was runner-up in the race for Los Angeles mayor in 2022, “and its return is one of the most meaningful signs yet that this community … is coming back stronger than ever.”
The Lot, which will oversee operations for the Bay, runs luxury dine-in theaters in La Jolla, Newport Beach and other California cities.