VANCOUVER — A beloved Vancouver movie theatre has been rescued from closure by an investment team including film directors Sean Baker and Mike Flanagan and “Stranger Things” star Finn Wolfhard.
The Park Theatre had been slated to close Oct. 26, but on Monday, it said a group of private film industry financiers had stepped in to save the venue.
New management is led by Corinne Lea, CEO of the Rio Theatre, which escaped its own threatened closure in 2018 with help from a fundraising campaign and endorsements from stars including Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Smith.
A press release credits Vancouver producer Chris Ferguson of Oddfellows Pictures with rallying industry support from filmmakers including “Longlegs” director Osgood Perkins, Vancouver producer Samantha Quan of “Anora,” and Zach Lipovsky, Canadian co-director of “Final Destination Bloodlines.”
That’s in addition to Vancouver-born Wolfhard, “Life of Chuck” director Flanagan and “Anora” director and Quan’s husband, Baker.
The new team says it looks forward to returning the art-deco venue “to its roots as the cultural hub of Cambie Village” but a date for its reopening has not yet been set.
The Park Theatre opened in 1941 as an Odeon and was later operated by Vancouver-based Festival Cinemas until it was bought by Cineplex in 2013.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 27, 2025.
The Canadian Press
