Los Angeles doesn’t just make movies; cinema is part of how the city tells its story. You know this already. However, what you might not know is how Hollywood history is woven into places you might pass every day.
On Hollywood Boulevard, the TCL Chinese Theatre has played its part for nearly a century—99 years, to be exact.
It opened as a movie palace, hosted the Academy Awards for three consecutive years, and remains a working cinema. This week, AFI FEST takes over the TCL Chinese Theatre complex, running Wednesday, October 21, through Sunday, October 25. Today, Quentin Tarantino will appear in conversation after a screening of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood at the TCL Chinese Theatre—the venue where the film held its U.S. premiere in 2019.
And next week, on Halloween, a live string quartet will play music from some of the most familiar films and shows ever brought to the screen.
31 October 2026 20:30
TCL Chinese Theatre
31 October 2026 18:00
TCL Chinese Theatre
AFI FEST weekend: Oct. 24–25
Saturday kicks off with Maverick: The Epic Adventures of David Lean at 10:30 a.m. before Peter Farrelly’s I Play Rocky hits the red carpet at 2 p.m. At 7:30 p.m., guest artistic directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller present 2001: A Space Odyssey, with Harold and Maude at 9:45 p.m. for night owls. Sunday brings The Muppet Movie at 11:15 a.m. and Brad Bird’s Ray Gunn on the red carpet at 1 p.m., before Siân Heder’s Being Heumann closes the festival at 7:30 p.m.
Candlelight Hollywood at TCL Chinese Theatre
On Halloween, the screen gives way to a live score. Candlelight Hollywood: Halloween Classics brings the Orchid Quartet to the theatre on October 31. The 60-minute concert’s program ranges from John Carpenter’s Halloween theme and Thriller to music from Psycho, Beetlejuice, Ghostbusters and The Nightmare Before Christmas.
A dragon at the door and Hollywood underfoot
The theatre’s architecture makes a grand first impression: a pagoda-like roof, coral-red columns and a 30-foot stone dragon above the entrance. But a short walk across the forecourt leads to a different kind of Hollywood landmark. The concrete squares hold the handprints and footprints of stars, along with more unexpected marks: the Harry Potter trio’s wands, Whoopi Goldberg’s dreadlock and the robotic feet of C-3PO.
How the tradition began is still debated. One story says silent-film star Norma Talmadge accidentally stepped in wet cement while visiting the construction site, giving Sid Grauman the idea. Grauman later said his own footprint inspired it. The first stars to deliberately leave their marks were Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks in 1927.
That mix of spectacle and movie history continues inside. The theatre has evolved into an IMAX cinema while preserving its movie-palace character; Discover Los Angeles describes its auditorium as one of the world’s largest IMAX auditoriums by seating capacity.
