The 27th Newport Beach Film Festival runs Oct. 15 through Oct. 22. Its two biggest nights are on Screen 1 at Regal Edwards Big Newport. Most of what happens in between takes place somewhere else. The festival schedule spreads screenings and events across The Lot, the Lido Theater, The Port Theater, Lido Marina Village, Sherman Library & Gardens, the Fashion Island Mainstage, The Resort at Pelican Hill and more.
That split matters this year. The Daily Pilot called the festival "likely a farewell" to Big Newport as a key venue, since the theater is set to close "in June or sooner" to make room for condominium towers. So these eight days preview Newport Beach moviegoing after Big Newport, with one large room still in the picture for the moment.
Screen 1 is the room the rest of the map can't replace
The main auditorium opened in February 1969 as a single-screen theater. It had 1,249 seats and a screen almost 75 feet wide. Later expansions grew the complex to six screens but kept the original room. The Orange County Register described Big Newport as the festival's hub for more than 25 years.
The 2026 schedule still treats it that way. Opening night is Frampton on Thursday, Oct. 15, at 7 p.m. on Big Newport Screen 1, with a live Q&A with director Rob Arthur afterward. Screen Daily reported that Peter Frampton will take part along with Arthur. A gala at Fashion Island follows, with food, live entertainment and cocktails. The gala is 21 and over, and cocktail attire is strongly encouraged.
Closing night is Behemoth!, written and directed by Tony Gilroy and starring Pedro Pascal, on Thursday, Oct. 22, at 8 p.m., again on Screen 1. A reception at Sherman Library & Gardens comes first. It includes a live taping of the Los Angeles Times "In Conversation" podcast with Gilroy and production designer Jade Healy.
The lineup between those nights runs to more than 100 features and 250 shorts from 21 countries. Centerpiece titles include Danny Boyle's Ink, with Jack O'Connell as Larry Lamb and Guy Pearce as Rupert Murdoch, and James Gray's Paper Tiger, starring Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson. Jimmy, with KJ Apa as Jimmy Stewart, makes its West Coast premiere.
The approval was settled in spring, and the date still isn't
The city decisions are final. The Newport Beach Planning Commission voted unanimously on March 5, 2026, to approve Related California's plan to replace the theater and a nearby fitness center. The plan calls for two nearly identical 22-story towers, about 270 feet tall, on roughly four acres. Together they will hold 150 condominiums, along with home offices for sale to residents, retail space and a café. On April 28, the City Council unanimously denied an appeal, which left the approval in place.
The closing date is less certain. In March, the Daily Pilot reported that the Edwards family would not extend Regal's agreement to operate past June 2027. It also reported that Regal had told the family it might leave much sooner, before the end of 2026. The September festival coverage still said "June or sooner." None of that coverage gives a firm last day. The Oct. 22 closing night could be the room's final festival screening, or regular showtimes could continue into next year.
Jim Edwards, whose father opened Big Newport, explained the family's reasoning to commissioners, as reported by the Daily Pilot:
"Nationally, theater attendance has declined every year for the last 20 years, and of course, COVID decimated the business, which hasn't recovered since. Unfortunately, Big Newport is not immune to those conditions."
The other festival venues are where Newport moviegoing goes next
The venues that host the festival away from Screen 1 are the same places Newport Beach will rely on for film once Big Newport closes. Each one carries part of the festival this week, and most keep their own programs after Oct. 22.
| Venue | Festival role this week | After Oct. 22 |
|---|---|---|
| Big Newport, Screen 1 | Opening and closing nights | Closing by June 2027 or sooner, per reporting |
| The Lot, Fashion Island | Festival screenings, plus StyleWeekOC's Armani premiere | Regular first-run showtimes |
| Lido Theater, Via Lido | Festival screenings | Weekly repertory films, plus concerts and comedy |
| Sherman Library & Gardens | Closing-night reception and podcast taping | Not a cinema |
The Lot at Fashion Island will be the nearest first-run commercial cinema, and it is showing current releases now. The restored Lido Theater is run by filmmaker McG and Jordan Otterbein of River Jetty Restaurant Group. It schedules weekly film screenings between its music and comedy nights. The October calendar shows the kind of programming it does. Death Becomes Her plays Monday, Oct. 12, and Edward Scissorhands plays Wednesday, Oct. 14, the night before the festival opens. The theater's directions page lists free guest parking in the Finley Avenue lot, but availability can change during large local events, and festival week is one of them.
The single-screen Port Theater in Corona del Mar is on this year's venue list too. The Daily Pilot's coverage of the Big Newport appeal reported that the Port has been lost to private events, and that the festival is running out of places to screen films. Its festival listings are the simplest way to check what it's showing this week.
Sunday, Oct. 18, is when the whole week overlaps
If you can only spend one day around the festival, Sunday, Oct. 18, has the most going on, both at the festival and across the city.
- StyleWeekOC at Fashion Island runs Oct. 14–18 and closes that weekend. This is its 15th anniversary and its third year partnering with the festival, and Jamie Chung headlines. At 6 p.m. on Oct. 18, Armani and the Birth of Italian Fashion premieres at The Lot, Screen 3.
- The festival's awards slate on Oct. 18 honors Taraji P. Henson, Jack O'Connell, Mckenna Grace, Sosie Bacon and casting director Sarah Finn.
- The 42nd Newport Spirit Run starts the morning at Upper Newport Bay and adds a half marathon this year to its 5K and one-mile races. The expo and finish-line festivities are at Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort.
- The Environmental Nature Center's 50th Annual Fall Faire & Pumpkin Patch runs 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is free, and there's a pumpkin patch, a craft crawl, nature games, local food vendors and live stage programming.
That gives you a race or the pumpkin patch in the morning and a fashion documentary premiere in the evening, with the festival's honorees in town the same day. Weekend traffic around Newport Center will reflect all of it. The festival's own guidance is to expect heavy traffic at peak times and plan the trip home ahead of time.
Planning the two Screen 1 nights
If the goal is one more night in the 1969 auditorium, these are the details to plan around.
- Pick your Thursday. Opening night on Oct. 15 is the one with the gala. That same evening, from 5 to 8 p.m., Corona del Mar holds its free "Carnival del Mar" 3rd Thursday, with games, pumpkin decorating, a reptile zoo and an open house at Fire Station No. 5. A family can do an early round on the Coast Highway and still make a 7 p.m. curtain, but it's a tight evening. Closing night on Oct. 22 has the Sherman Gardens reception beforehand, so plan on Corona del Mar first and Newport Center second.
- Choose single tickets or a pass. Individual sessions are sold through the festival's Eventive page. The Premier Insider pass costs $950. It covers four film reservations a day for seven days, the opening night screening and gala, after-parties, Mainstage events, Sunset Series receptions, and reservations for centerpiece and spotlight screenings. Sold-out events are excluded. The $300 Party Pass covers four named parties but not International Spotlight films.
- Eat at Fashion Island's newest spots. Telefèric Barcelona recently opened at 311 Newport Center Drive, serving tapas and paella. The Orange County Business Journal notes that it took over the former Hopdoddy burger location. Levain Bakery opened its first Orange County location on Sept. 4 at 315 Newport Center Drive, with cookies, breads, sandwiches and coffee. Fashion Island is also changing. P.F. Chang's closed in August, and the center says the space will become an ocean-facing dining hub.
- Keep the Lido Theater for the week after. Once the festival wraps, the weekday repertory calendar on Via Lido is the closest thing Newport Beach has to seeing an older film in a historic room.
The festival's homepage and Eventive schedule have the full program and current availability for both Screen 1 nights.
Big Newport has been part of Newport Center for as long as many of us have lived here, and the towers approved for that site will shape what the district feels like for the next generation. If your plans in the coming year depend on how Newport Center changes, Ashley Marie is happy to talk through what's been approved and how it fits around your home. Schedule a consultation.
