"A theatre for misfit shows." That is how Miles Williams, the Alex's creative director, described the venue during its centennial season last year. The phrase fits the theater's fall film schedule better than any marquee could. The Alex is showing movies again, but it has not become a cinema that runs a feature every night. Its films are scheduled one at a time, slotted between a Georgian ballet company, a 10,000 Maniacs concert and a National Geographic speaker series. In downtown Glendale, a movie at the Alex is now something you put on your calendar weeks ahead.
Thirty-Five Years Between First-Run Features
This summer the projectors came back. In a July 23, 2026 release, the City of Glendale announced that Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey was the Alex's first first-run feature film since Terminator 2: Judgment Day in 1991. The film ran in 70mm. ABC7 reported that it would stay on the screen through August 6. What made it possible was equipment: the city credits newly installed 35mm and 70mm projection systems and upgraded audio for the return.
That gap is long enough to matter. The Alex opened on September 4, 1925, as a vaudeville stage, musical theater and picture house. Architects Arthur G. Lindley and Charles R. Selkirk designed the original building with a classical revival and Egyptian-inspired interior under a blue-sky ceiling. In 1940, S. Charles Lee added the Art Deco tower, the neon starburst sphere and the triangular marquee that still sit over Brand Boulevard. For more than 60 years it was a movie theater and a premiere house. After that it became a performing arts center that only occasionally showed films.
Williams told ABC7 he sees the return as "a reclamation of our identity." He also pointed out the Greek columns out front and beside the screen as a fitting frame for a film about Odysseus. The city's release keeps the other half of the picture in view. The Alex is keeping its commitment to live entertainment, concerts, dance, comedy, film festivals and community events alongside the films. That is why the fall calendar looks the way it does.
What the Screen Holds Through December
The Alex's own calendar, checked October 4, 2026, lists these film bookings for the rest of the year.
| Date | On screen |
|---|---|
| Oct. 5 | Casino Royale 20th Anniversary Screening |
| Oct. 7–8 | CLOWD AI Film Festival |
| Oct. 14 | The Hunger x Das Bunker: David Bowie, Life on Film |
| Oct. 17 | Little Shop of Horrors 40th Anniversary Screening |
| Oct. 20–21 | Indie Horror Double Feature: The Blair Witch Project + Obsession |
| Nov. 11 | Claudio Simonetti's GOBLIN + Tenebre |
| Nov. 22 and 29 | Cameron Winter at Carnegie Hall, a Paul Thomas Anderson film in 35mm |
| Dec. 17, with Jan. 7 also shown | DUNE: PART THREE in 70mm |
Almost every row is one night, sometimes two. Most are built around an anniversary, a pairing or a hook: a Bond film at twenty, a cult musical at forty, a Bowie program, two indie horror films on one bill. They work like concert dates. If you miss Tuesday, it may not come back.
The Paul Thomas Anderson film in 35mm is the clearest sign of what the new projectors are for. A concert film playing on two Sundays a week apart is about as close to a weekend run as anything on the fall schedule. Dune: Part Three is the one listing that points back toward the July model. Its card shows December 17 and January 7 without explaining the span, so check the Alex's listing for the actual screening dates before you plan around it.
The Live Shows Around the Films
The calendar is a single list, and reading it whole explains why the films are booked as events. Mid-October looks like this:
- October 9: CONCLUSION, presented by HMG the Company
- October 10: Georgian National Ballet "Sukhishvili"
- October 11: National Geographic Live's BIG CATS
- October 14: the Bowie film program
- October 15: ¡Mocedades en Concierto!
- October 16: 10,000 Maniacs, "45 Years of Timeless Music"
- October 17: Little Shop of Horrors
- October 18: the Armenian Youth Association of California Gomidas Choir's Music Art and Heritage Annual Concert
That is ten nights with ballet, a choir, a nature lecture, two concerts and a cult musical. A film can only take a night the stage doesn't need, which is why most of the movie dates are single nights.
The spooky season follows the same pattern. The Blair Witch double bill on October 20 and 21 is the Halloween-adjacent film booking. On October 29, Amy Bruni brings Walking with Ghosts: The True Hauntings That Inspired Iconic Horror Films to the stage. The calendar shows no October 31 event at the Alex. For a Halloween-day outing in Glendale this year, the city lists the Stone Barn Skele-bration at Deukmejian Wilderness Park on October 31, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with guided trick-or-treat hikes and a free hourly shuttle from Pacific Community Center.
Who Holds the Keys
The building is public property. The city bought the Alex in 1992, a year after its last movie screening before this summer. The city's July release names SAS Entertainment Partners as the operator. The theater's own site identifies Williams as artistic director, and the Glendale News-Press reported last year that he holds a 10-year operation and management agreement with the city through his company, EVNSONG. Either way, the programming points one direction. Glendale had already invested $2 million in technical upgrades and relit the marquee before the centennial, with roughly another $2 million in building work planned. The film projection installed this year built on that.
Dinner Before Curtain, Within a Short Walk
The Alex's visitor page says dozens of restaurants are within a five-minute walk of 216 N. Brand Blvd. A few recent openings change the options on a film night:
- Urbane Cafe, 249 N. Glendale Ave., Suite B, opened its first Glendale location on Monday, September 28, with focaccia baked daily, sandwiches, salads and bowls. It works well for an early bite before a 35mm screening.
- CHAGEE, listed at 775 in the Americana at Brand directory, held its grand opening there on April 10, 2026. It is a modern teahouse serving brewed teas and teaspressos.
- Erewhon, 520 N. Glendale Ave., opened May 20, 2026, with a café, tonic bar, prepared foods and an indoor-outdoor patio.
- Palmetto Superfoods is listed by the Americana as coming soon, with Brazilian açaà bowls and smoothies. No opening date has been announced. The company's own hiring post puts the shop at 132 Caruso Ave.
For a longer dinner before a film, the Los Angeles Times reported in July that Adana has reopened at 6918 San Fernando Road after a closure of a year and a half. It now has a larger kitchen, an expanded menu and a full bar. It is a short drive from Brand rather than a walk.
Planning Around a Single Night
Since nearly every film this fall plays one or two nights, the practical step is to buy the ticket when you see the date. The calendar on thealex.com is a live list that changes as new shows are added, and most cards don't show a start time until you click through. The next one is tomorrow, October 5: Casino Royale turns twenty, under the same starburst tower that went up over Brand Boulevard in 1940.
For more than two decades, Chelby Crawford has represented homes whose value rests on provenance, much like a 1925 movie palace with a 1940 tower. If you own an architecturally significant property in Glendale and want to understand how its history shapes its value, request a private market consultation.
