Kristen Stewart purchases historic Los Angeles theatre and reveals plans to rescue it

Posted On February 5, 2026February 5, 2026

Kristen Stewart has purchased an old theatre in Los Angeles and shared her plans to rescue and renovate the location, which closed its doors in 2024.

Speaking with Architectural Digest, the Personal Shopper star has revealed that she now owns Highland Theatre, the Highland Park movie palace in Los Angeles that was built in 1925.

The palace was forced to close its doors a few days before its 100th anniversary, as it never recovered economically from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The venue, which also doubled as a one-time vaudeville performance space, was designed by noted architect Lewis Arthur Smith. Smith also designed resume also includes the Vista theater in Los Feliz, the El Portal in North Hollywood, and the Rialto in Pasadena, all from the mid-1920s.

Explaining the purchase, the 35-year-old shared, “I didn’t realize I was looking for a theater until this place came to my attention. Then it was like a gunshot went off and the race was on. I ran toward it with everything I had.”

She went on, “I’m fascinated by broken-down old theaters. I always want to see what mysteries they hold.”

Stewart has plans bigger than a run-of-the-mill renovation: “It’s an opportunity to make a space to gather and scheme and dream together. This project is about creating a new school and restructuring our processes, finding a better way forward. We want to make it a family affair, something for the community. It’s not just for pretentious Hollywood cinephiles.”

She added, “I see it as an antidote to all the corporate bullshit, a place that takes movie culture away from just buying and selling. I think there’s a huge desire and craving for what this kind of space can offer.”

Though Stewart grew up in the San Fernando Valley, she moved to LA’s Eastside when she was 20 years old, and has insisted that she “absolutely fucking loves” the “unified dissonance” of the space.

However, LA has consistently been plagued by a homelessness issue, with stats showing that there were over 70,000 homeless people in the city as of last year. For all the glitz and glamour of the Hollywood restoration, Stewart is aware of this issue: “LA is drowning in inadequacy in our response to homelessness. The city is at odds with itself,” she shared.

Stewart’s directorial debut, an adaptation of Lidia Yuknavitch’s novel The Chronology of Water, will hit UK cinemas on February 6th. Watch the official trailer below.

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