Island Cinema in Fashion Island opened in December 2011.

The Lot at Liberty Station in San Diego. (Courtesy The Lot)

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The Lot at Liberty Station in San Diego. (Courtesy The Lot)

The Lot offers recling leather seats. (Courtesy The Lot)

Mushroom & Artichoke Flatbread at The Lot in San Diego. (Courtesy The Lot)



The Edwards Irvine Spectrum 21 will debut its latest addition: a luxury wing on Tuesday. The new wing has eight upgraded auditoriums with large recliners, reserved seating and an upgraded menu.

Upscale leather seating at Island Cinema in Fashion Island. The arm rests are 10 inches wide, and each theater averages about 95 seats, with large, high-definition screens.

The Irvine Co. is swapping luxury for ultra-luxury at Fashion Island.

Island Cinema, an upscale movie house with stadium seating and oversize leather seats, is closing Monday, Sept. 4 at the 50-year-old mall, the Newport Beach developer and mall owner said. It is replacing the seven-screen theater, which opened at the mall in late 2011, with an avante-garde cinema house from San Diego.

The Lot, which will debut spring 2018, promises to up the ante on the movie-going and dining experience.

Theaters will have leather recliners, a standalone restaurant and an indoor-outdoor social space. In San Diego, The Lot serves breakfast, lunch, dinner and brunch. The two theaters — one at Liberty Station, the other in La Jolla — also serves cocktails, and hosts a Happy Hour Monday through Friday.

“The Southern California lifestyle is the essence of Fashion Island, and The Lot is redefining the movies for a new era,” Easther Liu, a marketing and retail executive for the Irvine Co. said in a statement released Wednesday. “It’s a dynamic theater experience that far exceeds consumer demands.”

The number of screens at The Lot is unknown at this time, the Irvine Co. said. A key feature of The Lot will be an “indoor outdoor” space for relaxing and socializing, the developer said. Movie-goers can order premium dining items while reclining in their seat.

“The recliners are wired with waiter call buttons,” the Irvine Co. said.

Beyond that, the Irvine Co. provided few other details about The Lot’s first Orange County location.

Adolfo Fastlicht, a former executive at luxury theater chain Cinepolis, founded first The Lot in San Diego in 2015. It opened a second location at San Diego’s hipster enclave Liberty Station in 2016. Ticket prices in San Diego range from $15 to $23.50. On Wednesdays, tickets are $12 all day. Those prices include a $2 service fee per ticket.

A 4 percent surcharge is tacked onto food and beverage sales, as well.

The dinner menu in San Diego includes a wide range of entrees, starters and salads. Among the items: $48 bone-in rib eye steak, $16 lump-crab lettuce wraps, a $17 smoked salmon flatbread, $13 for roasted tomato bisque.

At those prices, date night with a tomahawk pork chop, steak and a blockbuster Saturday night movie is likely to reach $100 or more, especially if cocktails are included.

That’s a much larger check average than what Newport Beach movie fans are used to at Island Cinema, at the upper food court section of the Fashion Island next to Lemonade. Food prices range from $6.50 to $10.

In early 2011, the old Edwards theater, operated by Regal Cinema, closed to make room for Island Cinema. It opened with 670 luxury seats. Tickets cost at the time $16.50 for adults. Adult prices today are $18 to $20.

“When Island Cinema opened in 2011 as the first luxury theater of its caliber in the Orange County market, it was a marquee moment at Fashion Island,” the Irvine Co. said. “However, much has changed in the entertainment arena since, namely the binge-watching phenomenon. If anyone can lure cinephiles from the couch, it’s THE LOT.”

Since the debut of Island Cinema, several other upscale movie houses have entered affluent communities in Southern California. Cinepolis, Latin America’s largest movie theater chain, operates theaters in Rancho Santa Margarita and Laguna Niguel. They offer reclining seats, full bars, seat-side service and reserved seating. Adult ticket prices range from $18.50 to $22.50, depending on the day and time.