Edwards family giving up theater ownership

Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT BEACH -- It’s unlikely that much will change for the city’s

economy and its moviegoers after financially ailing Edwards Theaters

Circuit, Inc. announced this week that Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz

will make a “significant investment” in the Newport Beach-based company.

But the city’s business leaders said Thursday that they were saddened

by what seems to be the loss of local ownership to an outside player.

For the past 70 years, the company has been owned by the Edwards

family, with Newport Beach resident W. James Edwards III currently in

charge as chief executive officer.

“It’s a sorry state of affairs that the industry has changed about

[the family] and they are not able to salvage their business,” said

Richard Luehrs, the president and chief executive officer of the Newport

Harbor Area Chamber of Commerce. “Philip Anschutz has no relationship

here. He doesn’t live here. He doesn’t know the people.”

Luehrs said he didn’t know what exactly would happen to the company,

and no specifics of the deal with Anschutz and a Los Angeles-based

capital management company have been released.

“The bottom line is that I don’t know what the outcome will be,” he

said, adding that he hoped Edwards and his wife, Patti, would continue

their roles as prominent members of the city’s philanthropic community.

The Edwards family is declining to comment on the proceedings for the

time being, a company spokeswoman said. Details of the Anschutz deal are

expected to become public later this month.

City officials said a possible change in ownership would have limited

consequences for Newport Beach, since tax revenue from the theaters is

limited to concessions sales and business license fees are not

significant.

Gregg Schwenk, the executive director of the Newport Beach Film

Festival, said he hoped the newcomer would be receptive to ideas for the

event, held mainly at the company’s Big Edwards theater at Fashion

Island.

He added that he looked forward to a “mutually beneficial relationship

for many years to come.”

At the time of the bankruptcy filing, company officials said a public

demand for state-of-the-art stadium megaplexes and a drop in attendance

at older theaters had brought the company on the brink of financial ruin.

On Thursday, the company’s Web site announced the recent grand opening

of a 20-screen theater in South Gate, featuring “All High Back Luv-Seats

with Lift Up Armrests and Cup Holders, . . .[an] Oversized Snack Bar for

Your Convenience . . . [and] All Giant Wall-to-wall Screens -- State of

the Art Everything.”

While the company still operates 59 theaters in Southern California,

Idaho and Texas, about 15 have been closed since the bankruptcy filing.

Both Newport Beach and Costa Mesa have three movie theaters run by the

company.

Last year, the company closed its old theater on Adams Avenue near

Harbor Boulevard in Costa Mesa.