It’s gone. If you drive down Victory Boulevard in North Hollywood today, you won’t see the glowing neon or the crowds lining up for a Friday night premiere. The NoHo Valley Plaza 6 is a ghost. For locals, it wasn't just a place to see a movie; it was a weird, budget-friendly staple of the San Fernando Valley that somehow survived way longer than anyone expected in the age of streaming and luxury recliners.
Movies died here twice, actually. Maybe three times, depending on who you ask.
Most people remember it as a Pacific Theatres location. Then it was a Regency. Then it was just... empty. Understanding what happened to this specific plot of land at 12151 Victory Blvd requires looking at the brutal reality of the Los Angeles theater market. You've got the high-end behemoths like the AMC at Universal CityWalk just a few miles away, and then you had this scrappy, six-screen multiplex tucked into a shopping center that felt like it was frozen in 1994. It was the kind of place where the popcorn was salty, the floors were a little sticky, and the tickets didn't cost a week's salary.
Why the NoHo Valley Plaza 6 Closed for Good
The end didn't happen overnight. It was a slow crawl.
Pacific Theatres, the parent company that owned the iconic ArcLight Cinemas and the Pacific chains, was already struggling before the world shut down in 2020. But the pandemic was the final hammer blow. When Pacific Theatres filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, it didn't just take down the Cinerama Dome; it took down the neighborhood spots too. The NoHo Valley Plaza 6 was one of the many casualties of a corporate collapse that wiped out hundreds of screens across California.
Regency Theatres tried to make a go of it for a while. They are the kings of the "neighborhood" vibe. They specialize in taking older builds and keeping them afloat with lower overhead. But look at the geography. You're competing with the NOHO 7 down the street on Lankershim, which has the benefit of being in the "Arts District." The Valley Plaza location was always a bit of an outlier—stuck in a sprawling, aging plaza that struggled with its own identity.
Shopping centers in the Valley are undergoing a massive evolution. Landlords aren't looking for theaters with 1,200 seats and massive footprints anymore. They want mixed-use residential. They want high-density housing. They want grocery stores that anchor a community. A six-screen theater built in the mid-80s is, frankly, a liability on a balance sheet in 2026.
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The Architecture of a Mid-Range Multiplex
We don't build theaters like the NoHo Valley Plaza 6 anymore.
Six screens. That was the "sweet spot" for a 1980s suburban development. It allowed for two big blockbusters, a couple of holdovers from the previous month, and maybe a family film. It was efficient. It wasn't trying to be an "experience." It was just a place to watch a movie.
The interior was classic Pacific Theatres: mirrored walls, neon tubing that buzzed if you listened closely enough, and those heavy, velvet-adjacent curtains that never quite closed all the way. It was functional. Honestly, it was a little cramped. If you were over six feet tall, your knees were hitting the back of the seat in front of you. But for five dollars on a Tuesday? Nobody cared.
The Reality of the "Discount" Theater Model
There’s a misconception that theaters like this fail because people stop loving movies. That's not it.
The economics of a theater like the Valley Plaza 6 are incredibly thin. For the first two weeks a movie plays, the studio takes the lion's share of the ticket price—sometimes up to 90%. The theater makes its money on soda and popcorn. If you aren't moving high volumes of snacks, you aren't paying the electric bill.
The Valley Plaza 6 existed in a weird middle ground. It wasn't a "first-run" powerhouse, and it wasn't quite a "dollar theater" anymore. It was caught in the "sub-run" trap. By the time a movie got there, it was often already available on VOD or Disney+. Why drive to Victory Blvd and sit in a 30-year-old chair when you can sit on your couch?
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The Neighbors: A Plaza in Transition
You can't talk about the theater without talking about the Valley Plaza itself. This area was once the crown jewel of Valley shopping. In the 1950s and 60s, it was the place to be. But as the North Hollywood area shifted, the plaza became a patchwork of discount stores and vacant storefronts.
The theater was the last thing keeping people there after 7:00 PM.
Once the screens went dark, the parking lot became a void. This is a common story across Los Angeles. From the Fallbrook Mall to the old sites in Van Nuys, the "neighborhood multiplex" is being replaced by "destination" theaters. If people are going to leave their house, they want a bar, a full kitchen, and a seat that vibrates. The NoHo Valley Plaza 6 offered a movie and a bag of popcorn. In the current market, that’s apparently not enough.
What’s Happening Now at 12151 Victory Blvd?
If you go there today, don't expect to see a "Grand Re-Opening" sign.
The site has been the subject of various redevelopment proposals. The trend in the San Fernando Valley is "The Grove-lite." Developers want to turn these old, flat parking lots into walkable mini-cities. We're talking 600 units of housing over a ground floor of retail. It’s part of the larger "NoHo West" style of development that has transformed the other side of the neighborhood.
There are rumors, occasionally, of a boutique chain like Alamo Drafthouse or Laemmle taking interest in older Valley footprints, but the Valley Plaza 6 is likely too far gone. The seismic retrofitting alone required for these older Los Angeles buildings is a budget killer. Most developers would rather bulldoze and start fresh than try to fix a leaky roof on a 1980s cinema.
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The Legacy of the "6"
It sounds dramatic, but losing places like this kills the "accidental" moviegoer.
You know the type. You're at the store, you see a poster, you realize you have two hours to kill, and you walk in. Modern movie-going is an event. You book tickets three days in advance on an app. You pick your specific seat. You plan your meal. It's precise.
The NoHo Valley Plaza 6 was for the spur-of-the-moment. It was for the teenagers who needed somewhere to go that wasn't their parents' living room. It was for the seniors who wanted a cheap matinee. It was a community hub that didn't know it was a hub until it was gone.
Actionable Steps for Valley History Buffs and Cinema Fans
If you're missing the vibe of the old NoHo Valley Plaza 6 or want to support what's left of the local theater scene, here is how you actually do it:
- Visit the Regency Valley Village: Located nearby on Laurel Canyon, this is one of the last remaining spots that captures that specific "neighborhood theater" energy without the corporate sheen of the major chains.
- Support the Laemmle NoHo 7: If you want theaters to stay in North Hollywood, you have to go to them. The NoHo 7 is the primary survivor in the immediate area and focuses on independent and foreign films that the bigger chains ignore.
- Track Local Development Permits: Use the LADBS Property Activity Report and plug in the 12151 Victory Blvd address. This is the only way to get factual, real-time updates on what is actually being built there rather than listening to neighborhood rumors.
- Check the Cinema Treasures Database: For the real nerds, this site maintains the most accurate historical records, including interior photos from the Pacific and Regency eras of the Valley Plaza 6. It’s a great way to see the architectural evolution of the space before it’s eventually demolished.
The era of the small-scale, six-screen plaza theater is effectively over. The NoHo Valley Plaza 6 wasn't the first to go, and it won't be the last. But for a few decades, it was the best place in the Valley to hide from the sun and get lost in a story for five bucks. That’s worth remembering.