DOWNEY – It won’t be long until Downtown Downey has a functioning movie theater again.

Look Dine-In Cinemas is taking over the Studio Movie Grill located at 8200 2nd St. The theater closed in March 2020 when L.A. County went into a COVID-19 lockdown and never reopened.

Brian Schultz, founder of Look Cinemas, said customers can expect an elevated moviegoing experience when the Downey theater reopens July 29.

“One of the core values of Look Cinemas is to have this black box, non-distracting moviegoing experience,” said Schultz. “That means a full dining experience with high levels of hospitality and all the benefits of full service.”

Schultz was an executive with Studio Movie Grill before leaving to start Look Cinema. In fact, he helped Studio Movie Grill open the Downey theater in 2017.

“I loved the Downey community,” he said. “The Downtown Downey community just has a vital love of their area and I want to make sure they have a platform to come together.”

The theater will offer private reservations and not just for films. Theater rooms can be rented and used as conference rooms, with state-of-the-art video and audio capabilities.

In addition to Downey, Look Cinemas is also opening theaters in Monrovia and Glendale.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to provide three more California communities with jobs that pay fair wages, and a space for each neighborhood to come together for great cinema experiences,” Schultz said. “I firmly believe in the magic of going to the theater so I hope that after a year of isolation that we start to see more and more communities going back to the movies.”

The Downey theater originally opened in 1997 as Krikorian Theaters. It was taken over by Studio Movie Grill in 2017.