Sundance Cinemas to open at former Sunset 5 next month

The Sundance Kid will soon come to Sunset Boulevard.

Robert Redford’s Sundance Cinemas announced Monday that it will open its Sundance Sunset Cinema on Aug. 31 after an extensive remodel of the former Sunset 5 Theater in West Hollywood. Sundance took over the lease of the cinema on Dec. 1 from Laemmle Theatres, which operated the Sunset 5 for two decades.

Sundance Cinemas, based in Westlake Village, Calif., operates theaters in Madison, Wis., San Francisco and Houston.

The theater circuit offers a range of alternative programming, lectures and screening series, taking advantage of Redford’s annual Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, and the Sundance cable TV channel.

Photos: Scene at Sundance 2012

Sunset Cinema, at Sunset Boulevard and Crescent Heights Boulevard, will specialize in American independent and foreign language titles and will offer many of premium services already familiar to patrons of the ArcLight Hollywood.

The newly refurbished theater includes all reserved stadium seating with plush rockers and small tables. The lobby was rebuilt to include a bistro and a bar, serving beer and wine that may be brought into the theater during screenings for those 21 and older. The venue also features an upstairs lounge and a patio where patrons can chat, drink and eat before or after the show.

“I discovered my love of movies at a little single screen theatre on the west side of Los Angeles as a boy, “ Sundance Group President Robert Redford said in a statement. “Having this ‘hometown’ theatre dedicated to exhibiting the work of independent filmmakers is a considerable goal achieved, and having the Sundance Institute as a neighbor and collaborator on special programs will be a tremendous asset to our patrons”

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