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Cinemark Lake Forest Foothill Ranch
26602 Towne Centre Drive,
Foothill Ranch,
CA
92610
1 person
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Cinemark Theatres (Official)
Additional Info
Operated by: Cinemark
Previously operated by: Regal Entertainment Group
Functions: Movies (First Run)
Previous Names: Regal Foothill Towne Center 22
Nearby Theaters
Theater opened September 17, 1999, and was one of the first Regal theaters in Orange County (prior to Regal’s merger with Edwards Cinemas, once the largest chain in Orange County). It was closed on July 26, 2023. It was reopened by Cinemark on August 1, 2023.
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Recent comments (view all 10 comments)
The theatre opened on 9/17/1999.
Back in the mid 90’s, AMC announced they were going to build a 24 screen theatre on this property. However, by 1997, AMC had pulled out of the deal and Regal stepped in. This was Regal’s third build in the county, preceeded by La Habra 16 and Garden Grove 16 (also opened in 1999). Regal had initially entered Southern California via the purchase of Krikorian Theatres' original chain, in 1996.
Prior to the opening, Edwards had threatened to build a 16 screen theatre across the toll road from the Regal site. After scrapping that plan, Edwards breifly entered in to buy out talks for the theatre, but that too fell through. Of course, within a few years Edwards filed for bankrupcy and the two companies fell under the REG banner.
September 17th, 1999 grand opening ad in photo section. Edwards gave away free popcorn that week.
The most irresponsible, reckless place I’ve ever been. I’ve been on the last session of the movie and was the last person to leave the hall. Unfortunattely I left my bag in the hall, and as the cinema was already closed I came back to get it early in the morning, an hour before the first performance starts. There’s no way anyone could enter the hall except the cinema staff. The hall was cleared, and my bag was missing. They did nothing to find out who took it. They take no responsibility for their staff, so be aware…
According to Fandango, all auditoriums here now have reserved seating. Capacities are as follows:
Theater 1 – 330 seats
Theaters 2, 7 & 20 – 93 seats
Theaters 3, 6, 14, 15, 16 & 19 – 105 seats
Theaters 4, 5, 13 & 18 – 151 seats
Theater 8 – 296 seats
Theater 9 – 438 seats
Theater 10 – 410 seats
Theater 11 – 293 seats
Theaters 12 & 21 – 129 seats
Theater 17 – 179 seats
Theater 22 – 376 seats
Personal opinion: Decent theater, but not a great one. I think this has been an underperformer for Regal, due to its location and design. It’s in a very nice area, but it’s kinda buried way back in Foothill Ranch near a toll road. In contrast to the Spectrum, which is right off the I-5 Freeway. The Aliso Viejo is also not right off the freeway, but it’s in a much more active area and is much closer to the freeway than Foothill Ranch.
Announced a July 26, 2023 closure
I think this was a case of megaplex era speculation that the area surrounding the theatre was about to take off and the relatively isolated location would soon be a hub (i.e. early entry into a pending hotspot). Unfortunately, that area of Foothill Ranch didn’t develop as expected and they were stuck with a very large theatre hidden away on the outskirts of the community. I’m actually surprised it lasted this long.
Opening August 1, 2023 as the Cinemark Lake Forest Foothill Ranch:
Foothill Ranch, CA: Regal Foothill Towne Center Closed, Reopening August 1 as Cinemark Location [Jul 27, 2023]
New name is Cinemark Lake Forest Foothill Ranch
This facility has seen better days. I grew up going to movies here, including my first ever, Cars (2006). I saw Barbie here on its last night of operation as a Regal theater in 2023. Almost nothing has changed here cosmetically since ‘99 – I believe some of the smaller auditoriums might have gotten new seats at one point, but that’s it. The theater’s age shows, especially in the big auditoriums that still have the original red seats and are rather musty.
This theater is primed for a rejuvenation. Lots of multimillion-dollar homes in the area (including a new two-thousand-home subdivision next door) and some heavy-hitting tenants in the shopping center like Target, Walmart, In-N-Out, and Chipotle. The ridiculously oversized parking lots make the center look like more of a ghost town than it is.
Cinemark wants to expand its presence in SoCal and could potentially do that by giving this theater a facelift and some features like recliners, XD, or D-BOX. Give locals a reason to come to this theater instead of driving to a different location or staying home.