It’s Your Last Chance to See Movies at the Castro As They Were Meant to Be Seen

This post has been updated as more movies have been added to the Castro Theatre’s schedule.

The time has come: the Castro Theatre will close in early February for renovations. Over the next year or so, concert promoters Another Planet Entertainment will replace the historic movie palace’s classic raked theatrical seating with flat tiers better suited to standing-room concerts. This is good news if you’re the type of person, say, who wishes Tommy’s Joynt would take all that old junk off their walls, rip out the hofbrau counter and start serving sushi instead. It’s bad news if you love movies.

Expect a large crowd, then, on Sunday, Jan. 14, when the Castro Theatre screens some of its final repertory films with the original and widely loved seating configuration. In a double feature, Blade Runner plays on 35mm at 4:00 p.m., followed by RoboCop at 6:30 p.m. Vintage sci-fi trailers run before and after, and the intermission features music by the Castro’s long-standing organist David Hegarty.

Then, on Jan. 26, the Castro shows All of Us Strangers; followed by Stop Making Sense and Singin’ in the Rain on Jan. 27; a Beauty and the Beast sing-along and 2001: A Space Odyssey (in 70mm) on Jan. 28; the Pet Shop Boys’ live concert film Dreamworld: The Greatest Hits Live at the Royal Arena Copenhagen on Jan. 31; and a sing-along of Victor Victoria on Feb. 4.

For the past two years, under the Castro’s new management, Jesse Hawthorne Ficks’ monthly Movies for Maniacs screenings at the Castro have largely replaced the once-daily pace of films on the theater’s calendar. “I am eagerly awaiting the restored reopening in the Summer/Fall of 2025,” Ficks said in an email. “People can reasonably expect to see Movies for Maniacs monthly repertory programming at the Castro after it reopens.” Another Planet Entertainment plans to utilize temporary seats for movies after the renovation.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Jan. 11, a post-mortem for the fight to save the seating at the Castro gets underway at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco. The Fight for the Castro Theatre: Lessons for Queer Preservation features a panel discussion with historians, preservationists and LGBTQ+ leaders to “tell the story of the City’s refusal to save the San Francisco landmark.”

‘Blade Runner’ and ‘RoboCop’ screen Sunday, Jan. 14, at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco. General admission is $21.50. Details here.