Published November 8, 2026
NEWPORT BEACH | CITY HALL WATCH | NOVEMBER 8, 2026
If you saw Jurassic Park or Star Wars on a really big screen in Newport, odds are you saw it at the Big Newport. Enjoy the memory. The building’s on its way out.
The Edwards Big Newport opened Feb. 11, 1969, with Romeo and Juliet, according to Cinema Treasures: 1,130 seats and a 71-foot screen. It was the Edwards chain’s flagship. Screens got added in 1974, 1989 and 1996, and a whole lot of Newport grew up in those seats.
What’s replacing it
Related California plans two 22-story towers, reported at about 270 feet, with about 150 luxury condos plus home offices and a café at 210 and 300 Newport Center Drive. The Real Deal reported no affordable units are planned on the site. The Planning Commission approved it in March. Theater owner Jim Edwards, whose father opened the place, said it will close no later than June 2027.
How the council voted
Save Our Theater and others appealed. Ken LaCroix spoke for dozens of residents, pushing reuse or partial preservation and raising concerns about building heights and the housing overlay. City staff said the building isn’t a designated historical resource. In April the council denied the appeals unanimously. Seven votes, zero for giving the Big Newport another look.
For the record, this is the same town where the Balboa Theater has been dark for 35 years. One historic theater can’t get its lights back on. The other can’t keep them on. Newport’s real talent is intermissions.
Go while you can
Catch a movie there this winter. Bring the kids. Sit in the big room. When they ask why the screen is so huge, tell them that’s how we used to do it.
The new towers will have great views. Just not of a 71-foot screen.
Sources
- OC Business Journal: Newport Beach OKs Big Newport demolition for condos
- The Real Deal: Related California gets planner approval
- Council meeting summary: appeal denied, closure by June 2027
- Cinema Treasures: Regal Edwards Big Newport history
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