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Thursday, April 19, 2007

Last Picture Show: Mann's National Closes Tonight


(Pic by You-Are-Here.com.)

Updating our post earlier this week about the impending shutdown of the Mann's National in Westwood.

Turns out today -- Thursday -- is the final show (specifically, the 10:10 run of "Shooter"). I write about it in Variety:

Having received a brief stay of execution last year, Mann's National Theater in Westwood will go dark after Thursday night.

Mann Theaters hasn't officially confirmed the closing, but an employee at the theater, reached by phone, confirmed that Thursday's showing of "Shooter" would be the National's last.

The National opened in March 1970 with feature "The Boys in the Band." The theater recently played a role as a San Francisco moviehouse in last year’s feature "Zodiac" (in which Mark Ruffalo's character watches "Dirty Harry").

Mann originally announced last year that it wouldn't renew its lease on the National, given rising real estate costs in Westwood. The least was originally set to expire last August, but Mann wound up signing an extension to keep the National temporarily open.

A large-screen theater with a capacity of 1,112, the National repped a dying breed of single-screen cinemas in an age of megaplexes. The theater had suffered from neglect in recent years, however, and was in need of a major rehab.

Mann continues to operate the Bruin, Festival and Village theaters in Westwood.

Still no word on the property's fate.

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