Landmark closing Oriental Theatre Thursday; Milwaukee Film plans to reopen venue by early August

Chris Foran | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Oriental Theatre is closing its doors after screenings Thursday, in advance of the movie palace changing operators next month.

Landmark Theatres, which has run the east side theater for nearly 42 years, is being replaced by Milwaukee Film, the organization that runs the Milwaukee Film Festival. Milwaukee Film signed a long-term lease for the Oriental last year, with a $10 million plan to revitalize the three-screen theater. The lease goes into effect July 1.

Milwaukee Film said Wednesday it plans to reopen the Oriental, 2230 N. Farwell Ave., "by early August."

RELATED: Milwaukee Film Festival will take over Oriental Theatre, with plans to revitalize the landmark

In a statement, Milwaukee Film said it "hopes to minimize the amount of time the Oriental Theatre will be closed as much as possible. … The exact date will be determined after we move into the space on July 1 and evaluate how much work needs to be done."

Milwaukee Film Leases Oriental Theatre The Oriental Theatre, one of Milwaukee's most venerable cultural institutions, will be operated by one of Milwaukee's emerging cultural institutions.

The film festival operator said it would provide updates in the weeks after it occupies the theater.

This week, Landmark posted a pair of lo-fi signs on the doors of the Oriental saying the theater will close June 22, and reopen "under the auspices of Milwaukee Film." Theater management confirmed that Thursday night's screenings will close out Landmark's run at the Oriental.

The signs read, in part: "Landmark Theatres has operated the Oriental for 42 years, and we would like to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU for an incredible run. We truly could not have done it without you — the audience!"

RELATED: Milwaukee Film will close the Oriental Theatre in July to add restrooms, better projection

The first phase of Milwaukee Film's plan to update and upgrade the 91-year-old movie palace includes expanding restrooms on the first floor and improving sound and projection systems.

Later phases include expanding the theater's concessions area in the lobby, improving seating in the balcony, adding a bar and concessions in the mezzanine level, and upgrading second-floor restrooms.

Earlier this year, Jonathan Jackson, Milwaukee Film's chief executive officer and artistic director, said programming for the Oriental would evolve after the 10th annual Milwaukee Film Festival, which runs Oct. 18 to Nov. 1, with the goal of making the movie palace more of a "calendar house" showing a mix of more international fare, classic movies and thematic programming — much like what the Oriental featured there when it was a single-screen venue in the 1970s and '80s.

Landmark has operated the Oriental since Nov. 12, 1976, when a predecessor company, Parallax Theatres, incorporated a calendar-style programming mix of foreign and classic movies, along with occasional concerts. From 1981 to 1988, the theater changed its programming daily.

Landmark also made the move in 1988 to split the 2,000-plus-seat movie palace into three screens, carving two smaller theaters out of the rear of the massive auditorium's lower level — a decision that kept the theater alive.

During Landmark's tenure, the Oriental began hosting midnight showings of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" — considered, by some measures, the world's longest string of consecutive showings of the campy audience-participation musical.

Landmark took over operation of Milwaukee's Downer Theatre, 2589 N. Downer Ave., in 1989. The theater chain plans to continue operating the two-screen Downer.