This Is the Last October the Newport Beach Film Festival Can Open at Big Newport

"The theater will close permanently," Jim Edwards of the Edwards family said in March, explaining why the family will not extend Regal's agreement to operate Regal Edwards Big Newport beyond June 2027. The 27th Newport Beach Film Festival runs October 15 to 22, and its opening night is still scheduled to include a gala at that theater. The calendar shows that this may be the final festival that can start there.

The Calendar Math

The theater's operating agreement runs through June 2027. Big Newport is scheduled to close no later than June 30, 2027, and the City Council denied an appeal of the project on April 28, according to the Orange County Business Journal. Regal has said it wants out sooner. ABC7 reported in March that Regal wanted to exit before the end of 2026. No exact closing date has been announced.

The festival has held its dates in October since it moved from April to catch Hollywood's fall releases. Dates for a 2027 festival had not turned up in anything published as of September 29. If the festival keeps its October slot, the next one begins more than three months after the latest date Big Newport can be open.

The developer, Related California, plans two roughly 270-foot buildings joined by a podium. They will hold for-sale home offices, retail and a cafe alongside the condos. Nothing in the announcements names a new home for the festival's opening night.

What Big Newport Has Carried

The theater at 300 Newport Center Drive opened in 1969. It has six screens and an Art Deco marquee. In his remarks, Edwards recalled premieres of "Jaws" and "Star Wars" there and described it as the family company's flagship. KTLA noted that it has hosted the film festival for many years.

The festival's other rooms have moved around more. In 2022 the festival opened at Big Newport with "WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story" and screened at four venues. Those were THE LOT at Fashion Island, Big Newport, the New Port Theater in Corona del Mar, and Starlight Triangle Cinemas in Costa Mesa. The 2022 closing film, "Glass Onion," played at the New Port Theater, and the 2023 festival closed at the Port Theater. In the two editions documented here, 2022 and 2026, opening night included Big Newport.

The 2026 opening night splits across two locations. Orange Coast reports that Thursday, October 15 has galas at Regal Edwards Big Newport and at Fashion Island. The Fashion Island gala features tastings from more than two dozen local restaurants. Main Stage events follow at Fashion Island from October 16 to 18.

A Festival Week Built Around the Rooms That Stay

The other rooms will still be standing when the towers go up. Here is what the research confirms for this year, and what it does not.

• Fashion Island. The main box office and will call sit at 957 Newport Center Drive, on the same street as Big Newport. The Main Stage programming runs Friday through Sunday, October 16 to 18.
• THE LOT. The seven-auditorium cinema at Fashion Island has hosted festival events before, and an earlier festival listing named it among the 2026 venues.
• The Lido Theater. Listed among the festival's venues, it sits at 3459 Via Lido. Its own site describes a 1939 building, recently restored, with a pop-up cafe.
• Starlight Cinemas. It appears on an earlier listing of the 2026 venues.
• Sherman Library & Gardens. A May listing describes the closing night party there, as part of the festival's Sunset Food & Wine Series. Confirm before planning around it.
• Balboa Bay Resort. The festival Honors and Variety's "10 Actors to Watch" event is here on October 18, and attendance is by invitation only.

Only Big Newport and Fashion Island are confirmed for opening night. The individual film schedule is on the festival's site, and this post does not assign films to specific rooms.

The Films That Fill Those Rooms

The centerpiece lineup gives a sense of the week's weight. Film Threat lists James Gray's "Paper Tiger," with Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson and Miles Teller. It also lists Danny Boyle's "Ink," a Southern California premiere, and Martin McDonagh's "Wild Horse Nine," with John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell and Steve Buscemi. The festival says many guild members attend the centerpiece screenings.

Orange Coast expects more than 50,000 attendees over the eight days, spread across the venues above.

What Hasn't Been Announced

Three questions remain open, and no source found for this post answers any of them.

1. Where does opening night go next year? The festival's announcements identify Big Newport as a key venue for 2026 but do not describe arrangements after it closes.
2. When exactly does Big Newport close? The range runs from the end of 2026 to June 30, 2027.
3. Will the festival hold its October slot? No dates for the next edition had turned up as of September 29, and the festival's site at newportbeachfilmfest.com is the place to watch.

Until those answers arrive, October 15 is the one opening night with a confirmed gala at Big Newport. A festival pass or a single ticket for any screening in that building this week is worth having in hand. A ticket for a Lido or Fashion Island showing the same week keeps the rest of the festival close by.

If the towers planned for 300 Newport Center Drive have you wondering what your own place is worth, Cassie French can put together a free home valuation and staging plan.