Bluelight Cinemas
21275 Stevens Creek Boulevard,
Cupertino,
CA
95014
21275 Stevens Creek Boulevard,
Cupertino,
CA
95014
3 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: United Artists Theater Circuit Inc.
Styles: Neo-Vintage
Previous Names: Oaks Theatres
Nearby Theaters
Opened on December 27, 1974 as the 3-screen Oaks Theatres. Later renamed Bluelight Cinemas, it was the premium discount movie theater in the Bay Area. It was renovated in 2009, and offered a first run experience at a second run price. Ticket only $3.75 (excluding special engagements and Bollywood). The Bluelight Cinemas was closed October 26, 2017 due to maintenance expenses, and will be demolished. The building stood vacant in 2019.
Contributed by
Jackie Cohen
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Recent comments (view all 5 comments)
I’ve posted information and photos from a recent visit here.
Article about the theater’s closure:
https://www.bigscreen.com/j/Cupertino-CA-BlueLight-Cinemas-5-Closed/5048
Originally a UA house called The Oaks. A single screen that expanded as more patrons discovered Cupertino (birthplace of Dana Carvey!) and its famous Flint Center.
Now no more movie theaters or shopping centers! No Oaks, Cupertino Square or Vallco! 😔😔😔
I don’t think this was was ever a single screen UA theatre. I can find no evidence in any of the newspapers of a theatre here before West Side Valley Theatres opened the Oaks 3 on December 27, 1974. (Grand Opening ad uploaded).
I could be mistaken, but you’d think that it would at least appear in a co-op ad in the Examiner/Chronicle or one of the peninsula newspapers had there been an Oaks in Cupertino/San Jose prior to 1974. The closest I can see is the UA Fairoaks Automovie, or perhaps the UA Regency or Cinema 150? Also, if it was a UA why would they leave it out of their ads when the rest of their south bay theatres were listed?
You’re probably right, Scott. I know the theater was originally a 3plex, and West Side Valley Theatres could have been the operator. At some point, North American Cinemas took it over-in the 90s. The theaters were 3 long and narrow with an aisle down the middle, about 275 seats each as I recall. North American put up a wall in the middle of theaters 2 and 3 and it became a five plex. You went down a hallway to access theaters 4 and 5 and there were side doors, so the back of those theaters were basically the front six or seven rows of the originals. Theater 1 remained long and narrow. The remaining four theaters were all pretty small. Craig Gildea was the manager there for a few years in the mid to late 90s. He left and has since passed away. I don’t know when North American closed it, but the name change to Bluelight must have been with the new owners. If my memory serves, directory ads ran in the Oakland Tribune, and maybe Chronicle and San Jose papers, I’m not sure. It thought it was a fairly mediocre theater- uncomfortable seats and mono sound, but it did pretty good business, and the theaters were so small that sellouts did occur.