Newport Beach Film Festival 2026: A Likely Farewell to Big Newport

At 7 p.m. on Thursday, October 15, the 27th Newport Beach Film Festival opens on Screen 1 at Regal Edwards Big Newport with Frampton, a documentary about Peter Frampton. Frampton and director Rob Arthur will take questions after the screening. One week later, at 8 p.m. on October 22, the festival's narrative closing night plays in the same room.

Both bookends of the week are in one theater across Newport Center Drive from Fashion Island. That theater is closing to make room for two condominium towers, and the Daily Pilot's September 25 lineup story says this year's festival "will also likely be a farewell to Regal Edwards Big Newport as a key venue." The festival also screens at three other theaters and won't vanish. This is likely the last October, though, when its biggest nights happen in the room that has anchored it for a quarter century.

One Room, Both Ends of the Week

The festival's official site lists this year's dates as October 15 through 22. Culture OC's guide counts more than 100 features and 250 shorts from 21 countries. Most of that program is spread around town. The marquee nights mostly come back to Big Newport.

Closing night has a strong local connection. Tony Gilroy's Behemoth! stars Pedro Pascal as a cellist who comes home to Los Angeles after 20 years on the road. Before the screening, guests are invited to a reception at Sherman Library and Gardens. Gilroy will also tape the Los Angeles Times "In Conversation" podcast with production designer Jade Healy, who is scheduled to talk about filming at Segerstrom Center for the Arts. So a film shot a few miles up the road in Costa Mesa closes the festival in Newport Center.

What the Room Has Been

Big Newport opened in February 1969 with a single auditorium of 1,249 seats and a screen about 75 feet wide. Later additions turned it into a six-screen complex. The Orange County Register called the theater the hub of the Newport Beach Film Festival "for more than 25 years." City staff described its value as sentimental and said it is not a designated historical resource. Nothing in the approval process protected the building.

How the Closing Date Was Set

The redevelopment is a Related California project called 300 Newport Center Drive. It covers 4.17 acres at 210 and 300 Newport Center Drive, which includes the theater and the Body Design fitness facility. The plan calls for two 22-story, 270-foot towers with 150 condominiums, plus resident amenities, for-sale home offices, retail and café space, and 343 parking spaces.

The Planning Commission approved the project unanimously on March 5, 2026. Two appeals followed. One was withdrawn. On April 28, the City Council voted 7-0 to deny the other, filed on behalf of a group called Save Our Theater. Stu News Newport reported that 19 people spoke at that hearing, and most of them were worried about losing the theater. Jim Edwards, whose family built the Edwards Theatres chain, spoke too:

"Tonight is not without a lot of heartfelt emotion on my family's part."

He also confirmed that Big Newport will close no later than June 2027, and possibly sooner. The Daily Pilot's September story still uses "June or sooner," and no exact closing day has been announced. The calendar does the rest. Next year's festival would fall in October 2027, months after the latest possible closing date.

The approved program has housing, offices, retail, a café and amenities. It does not include a movie theater or screening room. The Daily Pilot reported in May that festival organizers warned the closure removes a key opening-night and screening venue. A council member said they were open to finding creative ways to support the festival. As of early October 2026, no replacement venue in Newport Center has been named.

The Map That Continues After Big Newport

The rest of this year's footprint shows which parts of the festival don't depend on Big Newport. Culture OC lists screenings at The Lido Theater, The Lot and Triangle Square Cinemas in Costa Mesa, with Big Newport as the fourth screening venue. The social side of the week is already spread out:

• Fashion Island hosts the opening party and the Main Stage events, October 16 through 18.
• VEA Newport Beach, Pendry Newport Beach and Lido Marina Village host the Sunset Series receptions.
• Time Nightclub in Costa Mesa hosts the international Spotlight after-parties.
• Balboa Bay Resort hosts the Honors on October 18.

This year's Honors recognize Taraji P. Henson as Artist of Distinction, Jack O'Connell for Outstanding Achievement in Acting, Mckenna Grace with the Spotlight award, Sosie Bacon with the Breakout award and casting director Sarah Finn as Casting Visionary. Gemma Chan, Justin Hartley, KJ Apa and Jonás Cuarón are also among the announced honorees.

The Lido Theater gets the second closing-night film. Unleashed Spirits: The Rise of the Hollywood Vampires, Daniel E. Catullo's documentary about the 1970s celebrity drinking club and the rock supergroup it later inspired, has its West Coast premiere there at 8:30 p.m. on October 22. On that last night, the festival will be running in its old anchor and on the peninsula at the same time.

Planning the Week Around Screen 1

These are the ticket tiers Culture OC published for 2026, from least to most expensive:

1. From $20 for most feature films and shorts showcases
2. $30 for Centerpiece screenings, and from $30 for international Spotlight films, or $60 with the after-party
3. $40 for an international Spotlight after-party on its own, and $70 for each Sunset Series reception
4. $200 for the opening night party only, or $250 for the opening film and party
5. $300 for the Party Pass, which covers the opening gala and three Spotlight after-parties
6. $950 for the Premier Insider pass, which covers the opening screening and gala, reservations for up to four films a day, after-parties, Sunset Series receptions and Fashion Island Main Stage events, except sold-out events

The $20 and $30 single tickets are the least expensive way into the program. Centerpiece titles include Danny Boyle's Ink, with Jack O'Connell as Larry Lamb and Guy Pearce as Rupert Murdoch; James Gray's Paper Tiger, starring Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson and Miles Teller; and Martin McDonagh's Wild Horse Nine. The lineup also includes the world premiere of Danny Peykoff's …And Out Comes the Wolf, set in the East Bay punk scene of the 1990s. There's also Jimmy, a West Coast premiere with KJ Apa as Jimmy Stewart, and documentaries like Carl Sagan: We Are Made of Star Stuff. Each title's page on the festival's Eventive schedule lists its venue and screen, which is the way to find the screenings booked into Big Newport.

Orange Coast magazine expects more than 50,000 attendees this year. The opening and closing films are both booked into Big Newport's Screen 1, on October 15 at 7 p.m. and October 22 at 8 p.m.

Our team has watched this festival grow up around Newport Center, and we'd like to help you see it at Big Newport while the theater is still standing. If you'd like to talk about what the plans for 300 Newport Center Drive mean for your corner of Newport Beach, The Gipe Group is happy to have that conversation and share our private listings when the timing is right for you.