The Alex Is Back in the Movie Business, One Engagement at a Time

Before this summer, the last new studio release to open at the Alex Theatre was Terminator 2: Judgment Day, about 35 years ago. In July 2026 the theater on Brand Boulevard ended that gap with Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, shown on 70mm film starting July 17. By early August the Beverly Press reported that the Alex had become the highest-grossing U.S. theater for 70mm presentations of the film, and the run was extended through Aug. 20.

The Alex is now built to show films on actual film stock, and it books them as occasional special engagements fitted between the ballets, concerts, and touring shows that already fill its calendar. For anyone who lives within walking distance of 216 N. Brand Blvd., the useful habit is to check the schedule and pick your nights.

What the Alex Actually Rebuilt

The upgrade is what makes the programming possible. The theater announced new sound systems along with 70mm and 35mm film projection as part of what it called a renewed commitment to film exhibition. According to The Credits, the Motion Picture Association's publication, the Alex spent $500,000 on the work. That included a new ground-floor projection booth, designed and built under Taylor Umphenour, an IMAX consultant who has worked with Nolan on his dailies.

Both projector formats matter for what ends up on screen. 70mm is the large format that event releases like The Odyssey are made for. 35mm opens the door to a wider range of titles and repertory screenings. The theater's release describes the Alex as one of the largest cinema venues in Southern California equipped for 70mm.

Programming is set by Miles Williams, the Alex's artistic director. His company, EVNSONG, has managed and run the theater since 2021 under a 10-year operating and management agreement with the City of Glendale, according to the Glendale News-Press. Speaking to ABC7 in July, Williams tied the film program to the building itself.

"We have Greek columns out front. We have Greek columns next to the screen on stage. It's basically watching a Greek film in a Greek architecture kind of ... architectural gem."

Why "Occasional" Is the Key Word

The clearest statement of the strategy comes from Williams himself. As The Credits summarized his comments to The Hollywood Reporter, the Alex will keep hosting live events such as ballet and rock concerts. Alongside them it will book occasional special engagements of other large-format releases, naming Denis Villeneuve's Dune: Part Three in December and Greta Gerwig's Narnia: The Magician's Nephew in February 2027.

That shows in how the fall is laid out. After the Odyssey run, film kept appearing. A Star Trek 60th Anniversary Film Festival closed on Sept. 7 with Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home paired with the original-series episode "The City on the Edge of Forever." The next new release is Wild Horse Nine, a spy film that Variety's review, quoted on the listing, calls "laugh out loud funny," starring John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell as CIA agents on a mission from Santiago to Easter Island ahead of Chile's 1973 coup. It plays on 35mm, starting Thursday, Nov. 5. The Alex's listing currently shows 6:30 and 9 p.m. screenings on Nov. 5 and one at 7:20 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 12.

A handful of showtimes over two Thursdays is how an engagement house books, not a multiplex. Midweek nights in between go to touring acts. One of the most distinctive dates of the season sits right on the line between the two.

Late October Through December, on One Page

Here is the Alex's schedule from the theater's own film and event pages as of Oct. 20, 2026. Prices are the ranges shown on each event page, and the theater's site has the final word on any changes.

Two dates need a closer look. The Goblin night on Nov. 11 is the one that best captures what the rebuilt Alex can do. Claudio Simonetti's band performs its score live alongside a screening of Tenebre, so the stage and the screen are working together in one evening. Few rooms in the area are equally set up for a concert and a film presentation, and this booking uses both.

Dune: Part Three is the season's large-format test. The Alex's movie page lists it starting Thursday, Dec. 17. The Credits' August report gave Dec. 18. As of now the Alex's page doesn't say which format it will run in or what tickets cost, so check the theater's film listings before you plan a mid-December night around a 70mm showing. For a sense of pricing, the 70mm Odyssey screenings were listed at $27.

If you're reading this on Oct. 29, Walking with Ghosts is tonight at 7 p.m.

Planning Around a Calendar That Doesn't Repeat

A theater that runs on engagements rewards people who plan a little ahead. A few practical notes for the months ahead:

1. Check both Alex sites. Films are listed at cinema.thealex.com. Live events and their tickets are at thealex.com. One page won't show you everything.
2. Treat short runs as short. Wild Horse Nine has three listed screenings across two Thursdays as of Oct. 20. If one of them is the night you want, book it rather than counting on more dates being added.
3. Expect demand for large-format titles. The Odyssey engagement started at three screenings a day and still had to be extended, according to The Credits and the Beverly Press. A December Dune booking at the same theater is likely to draw a similar crowd.
4. Use the location. The Alex sits steps from The Americana at Brand, which makes it easy to build dinner or a walk around the screening without moving the car.
5. Look past December. Williams has already named Narnia: The Magician's Nephew for February 2027, so the next large-format engagement is already on the theater's radar.

A Building Designed for This

The Alex opened in 1925, and during Hollywood's Golden Age it was a first-run house. Its auditorium drew crowds for new features, special engagements, and studio presentations. The Greek and Egyptian architecture and the Art Deco neon spire that frame Brand Boulevard today were built around watching movies with a crowd. Williams told ABC7 that when he arrived in Glendale, almost everyone he met said they had gone to the movies there as kids.

What's coming back is a version of that history suited to how people go to the movies now. A neighborhood multiplex has to fill its screens every week. The Alex picks a few titles that justify a 70mm or 35mm print and a large room, then schedules everything else around them. On the theater's current listings, the next two are a pair of Thursday nights of Wild Horse Nine in November and Dune: Part Three starting Dec. 17.

A theater that books a few nights at a time is something we think about in our own work: knowing which dates matter is part of knowing the neighborhood. If you're weighing what downtown Glendale offers day to day, or how a block's amenities fit into a longer-term move, Sabena Sarma and The Sarma Group are glad to talk it through over coffee on Brand. Let's Work Together.