This Year's Newport Beach Film Festival May Be Big Newport's Last. Here's How to Make It Count.

A letter to the Newport Beach Planning Commission last winter said, "Now we will only have the Lot in Newport Beach," and added, "The Port and Lido Cinema do not show recent films."

The letter was about the Regal Edwards Big Newport, the theater at 300 Newport Center Drive that has shown movies since 1969. The commissioners approved a plan to replace it with condominium towers anyway. Seven months later, the 27th Newport Beach Film Festival opens on October 15. Its schedule still runs mostly through the building that's leaving.

The Daily Pilot called this year's festival a likely farewell to Big Newport as a key venue. The schedule shows how big that farewell is. The opening gala, the closing film and most of the centerpiece titles all play at Big Newport.

The Old Theater Still Has the Festival's Biggest Nights

The festival's Eventive schedule lists four Big Newport auditoriums for 2026: Screens 1, 4, 5 and 6. In early October, those four rooms showed roughly 70 screenings across the eight days. That's a large share of a festival the Daily Pilot says includes more than 100 features and 250 shorts from 21 countries.

Screen 1 is the big auditorium. When the theater opened in February 1969, it was a single room with 1,249 seats, and the first film it showed was the 1968 "Romeo and Juliet." The festival gave that room its bookend nights this year:

As of the Daily Pilot's Sept. 25 lineup story, organizers hadn't yet named the opening-night film. The main schedule also has a separate "Opening Night - Party Only" ticket at 9:30 p.m. on October 15. Anyone who wants the party without the screening can buy that ticket alone. Closing night starts with cocktails and conversation at Sherman Library & Gardens, then moves to "Behemoth!" on Screen 1 at 8 p.m.

Big Newport hosted opening night for years, and festival co-founder Gregg Schwenk has called the theater "our home." If this is the last festival there, it will end on the same screen where so many festivals began.

Why "Likely" Is the Right Word

The decisions are done, but the timing isn't settled. The Planning Commission approved Related California's plan 6-0 on March 5, 2026. The plan calls for two nearly identical 22-story towers, each about 270 feet tall, with 150 condominiums between them, plus home offices, retail and a café. On April 28, the City Council voted 7-0 to deny a resident's appeal, which challenged the project's parking, economic effects and height.

The closing date is still open. Jim Edwards, whose father opened Big Newport, told commissioners his family wouldn't extend Regal's operating agreement past June 2027. He also said Regal wanted to leave much sooner, before the end of 2026. The Daily Pilot's September story says only that the theater is "set to close in June or sooner." As of October 5, Regal's site still listed regular showtimes at the theater, with no final day posted.

So a regular Tuesday matinee there is still possible for now. A festival week there may not come around again. No replacement home for the festival has been announced. The last public word was Schwenk's comment in March. He said he hoped Related California would reach out to organizers and "figure out how we can work together to find a possible solution to the loss of our home."

The Centerpiece Films Mostly Play at Big Newport

The Daily Pilot named "Ink," "Paper Tiger" and "Jimmy" as headline titles. "Ink" is Danny Boyle's film about The Sun tabloid. "Paper Tiger" is James Gray's crime drama with Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson. "Jimmy" has its West Coast premiere here, with KJ Apa as Jimmy Stewart. All three have screenings in Big Newport's smaller auditoriums:

• "Paper Tiger": Sunday, Oct. 18 at 1:15 p.m. and Monday, Oct. 19 at 8:30 p.m., Screen 6
• "Jimmy": Tuesday, Oct. 20 at 5:15 p.m., Screen 5
• "Ink": Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 5:30 p.m., Screen 5
• "Wild Horse Nine": Saturday, Oct. 17 at 8 p.m., Screen 6
• "Josephine": Tuesday, Oct. 20 at 7:30 p.m., Screen 4
• "Carl Sagan: We Are Made of Star Stuff": Monday, Oct. 19 and Thursday, Oct. 22, both at 7:30 p.m., Screen 4

The local-interest titles are here too. "California Roll: The Rise of American Sushi" plays Screen 4 at 6 p.m. on October 22. "No Hands: The Wild Ride of the Schwinn Bicycle Company" plays there at 2:30 p.m. on October 20. "Kenny Loggins: Conviction of the Heart" has a 2:30 p.m. Monday screening on Screen 4. Weekday matinees like that Monday Loggins show are one way to visit the old theater during festival week without fighting the evening crowds.

The Rest of the Week Shows What Comes Next

The festival's other venues already show where it could go after Big Newport. Eventive's venue list for 2026 includes the Lido Theater, The Port Theater, Lido Marina Village, Fashion Island and The Mainstage there, The Lot, Sherman Library & Gardens and The Resort at Pelican Hill. It also includes VEA Newport Beach, Time Nightclub, Triangle in Costa Mesa and Regal UTC.

The Lido Theater on the peninsula has screenings on six nights this year. Its programs include the action-sports film "Stern Fever" on Sunday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m., plus showings of "Jimmy" and the Kenny Loggins documentary. At 8 p.m. on closing night, while "Behemoth!" plays across the bay, the Lido shows "Unleashed Spirits: The Rise of The Hollywood Vampires." Director Daniel E. Catullo III and members of the band will do a live Q&A afterward.

The Mainstage at Fashion Island, at 401 Newport Center Drive, is just a short walk from Big Newport. It hosts "Couture to the Max" on October 17. On Sunday, Oct. 18 at 3 p.m., Emmy Rossum will record The Hollywood Reporter's "Awards Chatter" podcast there with Scott Feinberg and receive the festival's Outstanding Performance in Television Award. The event is free, but you have to RSVP. It's the clearest free option of the week. Fashion Island also hosts StyleWeekOC from October 14 through 18. This is the third year the festival and StyleWeekOC have partnered.

One program is closer to home than the rest. "OCC Shorts" is a set of 15 short films by Orange Coast College students. It screens Saturday, Oct. 17 at 10:45 a.m. at Triangle Square Cinemas in Costa Mesa, Screen 3.

Choosing a Ticket

Eventive lists two passes, and they suit different weeks. The $950 Premier Insider pass covers reservations for four films a day for seven days. It also includes opening night, the after-parties, events at the Fashion Island Mainstage and the Sunset Series receptions. The pass page says it doesn't guarantee a seat at sold-out events. The $300 Party Pass covers the opening-night gala and three after-parties, but not the International Spotlight films. The Visit Newport Beach guide lists those after-parties as the Latin Showcase on October 19, the European Showcase on October 20 and the Pacific Rim on October 21.

Single tickets are sold by film on Eventive. If what you want is one last festival night at Big Newport, the October 15 gala and the October 22 "Behemoth!" screening are the two seats to book first. Both are on Screen 1.

Where the Screens Are After Big Newport Closes

Once Big Newport closes, Newport Beach will have one first-run multiplex left: THE LOT at Fashion Island, 999 Newport Center Drive, which posts current showtimes and upcoming releases. The Lido Theater schedules classic films, film-society screenings and live events. The New Port Theater in Corona del Mar calls itself a classic movie house and event venue and offers private screenings. For first-run movies outside Newport Center, Triangle Square Cinemas is at 1870 Harbor Blvd. in Costa Mesa.

That matches the letter's description, and it's the city the festival will have to plan around after this year. For now, Screen 1 is booked for both bookend nights. The opening gala starts at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15.

At Stephanie Young Group, we're making our own festival plans this month and squeezing in a Big Newport night while we can. If you have a favorite memory from that theater or a pick from this year's lineup, we'd love to hear it. Let's Connect.

Want to live where the calendar is this full? Explore Newport Beach homes for sale, or start with these current listings:

1. 3708 Channel Pl, Newport Beach (92663) | 3 bd, 3 ba, 2,360 sq ft
2. 30 Palazzo, Newport Beach (92660) | 5 bd, 4.5 ba, 4,023 sq ft
3. 642 Via Lido Nord, Newport Beach (92663) | 4 bd, 4 ba, 2,919 sq ft

See every current listing in Stephanie Young Group's portfolio of properties for sale.