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Grauman's Chinese Theatre, a Hollywood landmark and perhaps the most famous movie theater in the world, is being sold.

Controversial nightclub operator-turned-film producer Elie Samaha and producer Don Kushner are buying the theater from a joint venture of Warner Bros. and Viacom Inc. for an undisclosed price. The transaction is expected to close May 20. As part of the deal, the buyers will take over the long-term lease of the adjacent Mann Chinese 6 Theatre, which is housed in the Hollywood & Highland Center.

The famed theater, which is on local and national historic registries -- protecting it from demolition or significant alteration -- has long been home to some of Hollywood's biggest movie premieres. Mann Theatres, which is co-owned by Warner and Viacom, operates the theater and the Mann 6 multiplex.

Changes could be in store for the Chinese Theatre. The new owners are exploring ways to maximize "the real estate opportunity," said commercial real estate broker John Tronson, who has been informally consulting on the project for Samaha and Kushner, whose credits include Tron: Legacy and Monster.

Tronson, a Hollywood expert and principal at Ramsey-Shilling Commercial Real Estate Services, said that the new owners are considering advertising opportunities, special events and product promotions as ways to wring more revenue out of the property.

"They do movie premieres there, but that's all they really do in the way of events," said Tronson, who is consulting on the project along with Ramsey-Shilling CEO Chris Bonbright. "They could do a lot of other things there that would drive people who come and visit and see it."

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Several Hollywood sources said they had heard that the new owners are considering turning the theater, which has 1,152 seats, into a nightclub. It's worth noting that Samaha has interests in two historic Hollywood Boulevard movie theaters that have recently been transformed into nightlife venues: the Fox Theatre and Vogue Theatre.

Leron Gubler, CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, and Nicole Mihalka, a commercial real estate broker at Cushman & Wakefield, both said they had heard talk about the Chinese Theatre being converted to a nightclub. However, Tronson said he doesn't expect that to occur, adding that the new owners had not mentioned such a potential change to him.

"That would kill all the interest from people who are interested in coming there," Tronson said.

Samaha has a checkered history in the entertainment business. Before segueing into the movie business, he owned a dry cleaners operation -- called Celebrity Cleaners -- and several nightclubs, including a stake in the original Roxbury in Hollywood. Though he has produced films such as Heist, The Whole Nine Yards and The In-Laws, Samaha is best known for his high-profile legal battle with Intertainment Licensing over allegations that he committed fraud by distorting the budgets of films made by his Franchise Pictures.

Intertainment, a German company, accused Samaha of defrauding it out of $75 million, arguing that he kept multiple sets of books for his films. The years-long case was settled in 2006, with Samaha paying $3 million to Intertainment.

Samaha did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.

Preservationists will be watching the new owners closely. Though the Chinese Theatre's placement on historic registries offers some protection, it is possible that the new owners could attempt to make changes to the property.

"Any renovation would need to comply with nationally recognized preservation standards. That's our primary concern -- the proper treatment of the historic building -- though it's always ideal to maintain a landmark's intended use," said Adrian Scott Fine, director of advocacy for the Los Angeles Conservancy, a nonprofit preservation watchdog organization.

The Chinese Theatre has been on the market since August 2009. Located at 6925 Hollywood Blvd., the theater, which opened in 1927, includes a concrete forecourt in which the hand and footprints of dozens of movie stars are preserved. The property is next door to the Hollywood & Highland Center -- where the Mann 6 is housed -- and is a key stop for tourists who frequent the boulevard. It will host the TCM Classic Film Festival, which kicks off Thursday night.

The sale does not include the land on which the Chinese Theatre is situated; real estate developer and investment firm CIM Group, owner of Hollywood & Highland, owns the land, having purchased it in 2008.

Warner and Viacom had been leasing the space that houses the Mann 6 theaters from CIM; Samaha and Kushner will assume that lease.

Warner and CIM declined to comment. Viacom and Mann did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

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Grauman's Chinese Theatre, a Hollywood landmark and perhaps the most famous movie theater in the world, is being sold.

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Debatable; can he say, Radio City Music Hall?
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 05-11-2011, 12:35 PM:
 
I think I'd have to go with Grauman's on that one. It IS in Hollywood, after all.

And, there is not a replica of Radio City Music Hall in Disney World either, so there!
 

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Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 05-11-2011, 01:42 PM:
 
I'd go with the Grauman's Chinese Theatre too. Bigger is not always better.
 

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 05-11-2011, 04:14 PM:
 
Is Radio City Music Hall even a movie theater? Or is it just a place that can show movies from time to time while mostly focusing on crap that people in the east seem to like, like plays?
 

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Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 05-11-2011, 05:09 PM:
 
They do concerts for most of the year and that Christmas show with the Rockettes. A few times a year a big premiere.
 

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Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 05-11-2011, 06:46 PM:
 
Worldwide I'd have to go with the Chinese Theatre.

Personally, as a tourist to NYC -- and I've been a few times -- I've had no interest in seeing Radio City Music Hall. Whereas, the Chinese Theatre was at the top of my to-do list when I visited Hollywood for the first time.
 

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Posted by Aaron Garman (Member # 1653) on 05-11-2011, 11:08 PM:
 
As a pure movie house, the Chinese wins hands down over Radio City.

I sure hope that it continues to show movies: I'd hate to say the last movie I ever saw there was MacGruber.

AJG
 

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Posted by Tom Petrov (Member # 1534) on 05-11-2011, 11:36 PM:
 
I wonder what would happen if AMC gets their hands on it?
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 05-12-2011, 12:38 AM:
 
Most likely, not much. There would be such an outcry from virtually everybody in the movie production business that they won't dare fiddle with it too much -- plus, it's on the National Register of Historic Places, which doesn't stop them from altering it but gives it even more "attention" from the public than it would otherwise get. It remains a showplace to have your big premiere. It's not going anywhere.
 

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Posted by Tom Petrov (Member # 1534) on 05-12-2011, 01:06 AM:
 

quote: Mike Blakesley

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National Register of Historic Places

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quote: Tom Petrov

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I have no use for giant mega sizes auditoriums.

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I guess that settles it then.
 

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Posted by Sam D. Chavez (Member # 1841) on 05-12-2011, 09:25 AM:
 
Quote Sam Chavez

I have no use for giant mega size egos.
 

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Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 05-12-2011, 01:18 PM:
 
Sam, you the man!!!

I don't know about how I feel about this upcoming sale...my last film experience at the Chinese ("The Right Stuff" in 70mm) was not a good one at all...I still haven't found a reason to go back and give them a shot at redemption.
 

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Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 05-12-2011, 03:29 PM:
 
Per the earlier question, if AMC were to "get their hands on it" in the same way they did with the Seattle Cinerama (where another owned the place and they're merely the people in charge of managing the place), nothing much would happen to it. And it's ironic that they were made digital when AMC was gone from the picture, which from what I see the owner more wanted to hire a group that was more focused on single-screen theaters and making it a sort-of community theater again (since I assume they saw the writing on the wall that otherwise they'd go under due to competition and such).
 

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Posted by Jeff Taylor (Member # 443) on 05-12-2011, 05:59 PM:
 
Having been formerly associated with Rockefeller Center, I've been over the Music Hall top to bottom including the booth, backstage, the stage lifts which the Army guarded during WWII since they were similar to the elevators on carriers, orchestra gondola, organ chambers, the two original Carrier chillers, and that funky room where they have all the racks and racks of vacuum tubes which drive the dimmable lights (that may be gone now), and I've got to say it's impressive--really impressive. Nothing against the Chinese, but the Music Hall diserves its due, and there was nothing like seeing Sinatra from the house seats.
 

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Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 05-12-2011, 08:07 PM:
 
Radio City has a pretty good tour. I recommend it. It doesn't go to the booth, but it does go backstage and to the basement and to all sorts of other interesting places. The scale of the place must be seen to be believed; photographs and drawings do not do it justice.

I visited the Chinese in 2000. They didn't have a tour, but I did see a movie there. I liked the architecture and the screen, but thought that the sound quality sucked. Supposedly, it has been improved since then.
 

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Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 05-13-2011, 12:47 PM:
 
Years ago, the booth was on the tour. Now the closest you get is looking down a hallway with the booth at the end. All you can see is the back of a lamphouse.
 

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Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 05-13-2011, 08:15 PM:
 
I don't think anyone is trying to take anything away from RCMH that it deserves. I'm certainly not.

I just don't think it deserves the title of most famous movie theatre in the world.

While it may be a nice touch, the fact that RCMH may have a great tour doesn't change my opinion.
 

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Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 05-14-2011, 09:19 AM:
 
Well, not taking anything away from the Chinese, RCMH is in the city that gets the highest number of tourists every year than any other city in the world. And one of the hottest tourist attractions in NYC is the Music Hall. And so is not "perhaps" the most famous movie theatre in the world, it IS the most visited and the famous in the world.

Not only that, its image has appeared in more films and TV and other media than the Chinese so it is definately the most recognizable. If you put a picture of its interior to a picture of the interior of the Chinese, more people would be able to recognize the iconic RCMH, and that's the definition of famous.

And I'll throw this in -- whether or not it runs movies regularly or just occasionally (which it does), it is still a movie theatre.
 

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Posted by Tom Petrov (Member # 1534) on 05-14-2011, 10:52 AM:
 
I will have to agree with Frank here. If you ask random people, more of them will likely tell they have heard of Radio City Music Hall than the Chinese theatre.
 

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Posted by Hillary Charles (Member # 769) on 05-14-2011, 01:14 PM:
 
Out of the two theaters, I've only ever seen a movie at Radio City. Still, I think of that for the Christmas program and the Rockettes probably a bit more than for showing movies.

The Chinese Theater screams "Hollywood," and is equally famous for the hand and footprints in the forecourt.

My vote for most famous American theater, RCMH, most famous movie theater, the Chinese.
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 05-14-2011, 03:54 PM:
 

quote: Tom Petrov

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If you ask random people, more of them will likely tell they have heard of Radio City Music Hall than the Chinese theatre.

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quote: Joe Redifer

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Yeah, I didn't know the Radio City Music Hall ever showed movies.

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quote: Frank Angel

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RCMH is in the city that gets the highest number of tourists every year than any other city in the world.

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quote: Joe Redifer

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5 movies and 4 stage shows a day? Was the place open 24 hours?

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Typically the first film would screen at 10:30 am followed by the stage show which lasted about an hour. The last complete show would have the stage show starting about 9 and the show ending by midnight.
 

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Posted by Lionel Fouillen (Member # 1475) on 05-20-2011, 07:27 AM:
 
I did the Radio City tour in 2005. It was worth it and I recommend it to all lovers of theater architecture and prestigious landmarks. But it should not be presented or considered primarily as a movie house.

I could propose to post my pictures on Film-Tech in the warehouse section, but it would not comply to the rule ordering a certain minimum of pictures from the booth, as I didn't visit it (not part of the tour)...
 

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Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 05-20-2011, 12:27 PM:
 
You should submit your photos over at www.cinematour.com
 

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Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 05-20-2011, 02:11 PM:
 
Warren Jenkins and Bob Enders took me on a midnight tour from the top to the bottom of RCMH so I vote for it
 

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Posted by Victor Liorentas (Member # 5272) on 05-20-2011, 03:07 PM:
 
I have seen one 70mm movie(Black Rain) at the Chinese.Presentation was just ok but the theater was impressive!
Only seen RCMH on tv and movies but it is a huge marvel!

I have to say the Fox in Detroit(5000)plus seats made me feel like I died and went to movie palace heaven!
It is not that well known but deserves to be!
 

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Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 05-22-2011, 04:33 AM:
 

quote: Mike Blakesley

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I thought Paris was the most visited city in the world. According to World Tourism Organization (on Wikipedia), New York is #4.

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