“The New 400 Theaters, once the city’s oldest continuously running movie house, is reopening after being obtained by the operator of several historical movie theaters.
“The closed movie theater at 6746 N. Sheridan Road is being leased to Jordan Stancil, the operator of movie houses in Michigan, Stancil confirmed to Block Club. Stancil will rebrand the movie house as The 400 Theater and restore operations at the Rogers Park institution, which closed two years ago, he said.
“The New 400 closed in 2023, ending a 111-year-run that made it the oldest movie theater in the city and one of its last independent cinemas. Its owner, who also owns the retail strip the theater occupies, said at the time he would look to find a new operator for the theater, but the space has sat dormant since its closure.
“Stancil said he plans to bring in new projection technology to the theater and offer a diverse range of programming, including new releases, independent and foreign cinema as well as community events.
“‘What I really care about a lot is the movie theater experience for the people watching the movie,’ he said. ‘There shouldn’t be any compromise for your movie going experience when you go to The 400 Theater.’
“Stancil operates three movie theaters in Michigan, including the Rialto Theater in Grayling, Michigan, which his family has owned since 1915, he said.
“‘Everybody wants to have their theater reopened,” Stancil said. ‘I grew up in a place where we took it very seriously.’
“Built in 1912, the ornate building operated a theater and movie house for 111 years, showcasing everything from vaudeville to first-runs of the latest releases.
“In March 2023, the Loyola Phoenix student newspaper broke the news the theater was likely to close. Fans flocked to the theater in an effort to keep the lights on. The Silent Film Society of Chicago hosted screenings of silent horror films and donated the majority of ticket proceeds to the 400 to try to keep it going, but it wasn’t enough.
“‘Everyone is excited to honor The 400 Theater’s unique place in the Rogers Park community,” said Stancil. “Independent theaters enrich local culture by offering spaces for shared experiences, and I look forward to partnering with the community to make The 400 a cultural anchor once again.” (Savedra, Block Club Chicago, 12/1/25)
“In the last 20 years, movie theaters have disappeared from cities all over the world, and Chicago is no exception. Massive, intricately designed theaters that served as informal community centers have either been torn down, chopped up and repurposed, or left to fester and rot, particularly on the city’s south and west sides. While smaller art houses have filled the niche and historical preservation has kept institutions like the Music Box Theatre and the Davis Theater alive, many Chicagoans are limited to soulless theaters owned by multinational corporations—if they have easy access to moviegoing at all.
“Nearly all of Chicago’s movie theaters are on the north side. Even still, there has not been a fully operational movie theater within Chicago city limits north of Lawrence Avenue since August 18, 2023. When the New 400 Theaters in Rogers Park announced its closing, the far north side lost its only cinema. For two and a half years, Chicagoans passing 6746 North Sheridan were greeted with an empty lobby, leftover posters for that summer’s Barbie and Oppenheimer, and the theater’s massive marquee advertising that the building was for lease.
“Since it first opened 114 years ago as the Regent vaudeville house, the theater has changed hands several times, operating as a movie theater under the names the 400, the 400 Twin, the Village North, the Visionary, and, finally, the New 400. After a colorful history of managers and operators, (including the infamous Ron Rooding, who was issued a restraining order by Warner Brothers in 1989 for an attempted skydiving stunt advertising Batman, a film the then 400 Twin wasn’t even showing), Tony Fox of Evanston’s ADF Capital, the building’s owner and last operator, shuttered the theater in 2023. Like many independent operators, Fox cited a post-COVID lack of profit, telling Block Club at the time that after reopening, ‘We did half the business we used to before COVID.’ The shuttered theater has since drawn a frequent refrain of ‘What’s happening with the 400?’ among Rogers Park residents. An indispensable far-north-side hub disappeared, leaving a hole in Chicago’s moviegoing community.
“At the beginning of December, Jordan Stancil, a former foreign service officer and university professor who operates three theaters in his home state of Michigan, announced that he was taking over the lease on the theater, which would reopen as the 400 Theater. This seemingly out-of-the-blue announcement was actually the end of a very long search by Fox—with the help of the Lord Companies, who manage the property—for an operator for the shuttered theater. After the 2023 closure, Alderperson Maria Hadden of the 49th Ward was insistent that the development remain a movie theater.
“‘It was an all-hands-on-deck effort,’ Hadden says. ‘The community made it really clear that Rogers Park people wanted a theater.’ The nearest option otherwise is the AMC Evanston 12. Those who want to support a local business and go to the movies could go down to the Music Box in the Southport Corridor, but the legendary theater’s two screens make for limited programming. (The Music Box is currently addressing that problem with the construction of a third screening room.) Stancil—whose family had stewarded the independent Rialto Theater in Grayling, Michigan, since 1915—had the vision and experience most aligned with what Fox and Hadden saw as the theater’s needs.” (Ascher, The Chicago Reader, 1/30/26)
Read the full story at Block Club Chicago and The Chicago Reader
- The next iteration of the 400 Theater; The New 400 Theaters closed in 2023, leaving the far north side without a cinema. This year, the historic Rogers Park institution will reopen, Rob Silverman Ascher, The Chicago Reader, 1/30/26
- Rogers Park’s New 400 Theaters Is Reopening As New Operator Revives 113-Year-Old Movie House; The operator of three historical movie theaters in Michigan has leased the shuttered Rogers Park theater, which was the city’s oldest continually running movie theater when it closed in 2023, Madison Savedra, Block Club Chicago, 12/1/25