Kristen Stewart buys historic Highland Park movie theatre: ‘I ran toward it with everything I had’

Kristen Stewart buys historic Highland Park movie theatre

• Kristen Stewart buys historic Highland Theatre in LA for restoration
• She plans to turn it into a creative community hub, not just a cinema
• Stewart aims to make the space welcoming for families and locals

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Oscar-nominated actor and director Kristen Stewart has purchased the nearly century-old Highland Theatre in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, launching a major restoration project with a strong community focus.

The historic movie house, which originally opened in 1925 and was designed by architect Lewis Arthur Smith, closed its doors in 2024 after struggling to remain viable in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kristen Stewart revealed in a recent interview with Architectural Digest that she wasn’t actively searching for a movie theatre when the Highland came to her attention, but felt an immediate connection once she saw the building.

“I didn’t realise 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,” she told AD. “I’m fascinated by broken-down old theaters. I always want to see what mysteries they hold.”

Rather than simply restoring the space as a traditional cinema, Kristen Stewart envisions the Highland Theatre as a community hub where people can gather, be creative, and engage with film culture in new ways.

She emphasised that her plans are “not just for pretentious Hollywood cinephiles,” but for families and locals, offering a space that resists the corporate, transactional model of modern moviegoing. “It’s an opportunity to make a space to gather and scheme and dream together,” she explained.

Kristen Stewart, who continues to work on both acting and directing projects, sees this initiative as part of a larger cultural mission: to broaden how film is experienced, build community through shared spaces, and reimagine the future of cinema beyond multiplexes.