The New 400 Theater Reopens To Lines Of Moviegoers In Rogers Park: ‘Like Nothing Had Changed’

ROGERS PARK — Three years ago, the New 400 Theater went dark after more than a century-long run in Rogers Park.

But on Friday, the projectors were back up and running, the popcorn was popping and excited moviegoers were lining up for showings of the latest “Spiderman” sequel.

“It felt weird because people always say, ‘You can never go home again.’ You can never relive an old memory,” said Rogers Park resident Jesse Borrower, who was a regular at the theater before it closed. “But it felt like nothing had changed. We were just coming back, watching another movie.”

Inside the theater, Jordan Stancil swept up popcorn before the next crowd poured in that afternoon. Stancil takes a hands-on approach to his job as the new operator of The 400 Theater. Just a few days before opening, he was tracking down a UPS truck that had mistakenly delivered the print of “Spiderman” to his home.

The chaos of the movie theater business is familiar to Stancil, who operates three cinemas in Michigan, including the Rialto Theater in Grayling, Michigan, which his great-grandfather founded in 1915. His great-grandmother played the piano in that theater and Stancil learned how to play after they moved it to their family’s living room. Business dipped for their nearly dozen movie theaters after the advent of television, forcing the family to sell off most of their cinemas in the 1960s, he said.

“We have a long historical memory of pretty much everything in this industry since its inception,” he said.

When it comes to weathering the storm of streaming movies, Stancil isn’t worried it will cut into his business.

“People are seeing that COVID didn’t kill these businesses and I think that there’s going to be a positive narrative because people are going to see that the public comes in here, as you’re seeing right now,” he said, pointing to guests queuing up at the concession stand. “So it’s not really true that this is a dying thing, because the public doesn’t think that.”

Following a pandemic slump, younger people are fueling a return to the movies. Around 87 percent of Zoomers — those born between 1997-2012 — have seen at least one movie in theaters in the last year compared to 58 percent of boomers, or those born between 1946-1964, according to a recent United States-based survey by Fandango. Some of those who prefer to watch a film in the theaters rather than on the couch at home are even younger, like 12-year-old Rogers Park resident Ezra Swartz.

“I like how the AMC lady says it in the start, ‘It’s on a huge silver screen,’” Swartz said, putting on his best Australian accent to mimic actress Nicole Kidman.

“I feel like it’s almost healthier,” he added. “Instead of just sitting down watching a movie, it’s more like an opportunity to go out with your friends.”

Swartz sat next to his brother, 10-year-old Isaac, and their friend, 10-year-old Ernesto Vegas, to watch “Spiderman” that afternoon. Isaac looked around at the vintage theater, gesturing at the curtains and terra cotta harp on the wall.

“What I like about this theater is all the theaters like AMC are all so futuristic,” Isaac Swartz said. “But this is just like basic, nice. And you can see, look at the architecture.”

Like other Rogers Park residents, Ezra Swartz was excited about the opportunity to walk from his house to the movies. When The 400 shuttered in 2023, constituents in the 49th ward implored Ald. Maria Hadden (49th) to help revive the space’s original purpose as a movie house.

“People loved it,” Hadden said. “They loved the programming, they loved the memories, and ‘We didn’t want to see it go away,’ that was what they told me.”

Trinidad Cruz and Suzanne Meyerowitz, who have lived in Rogers Park since 2008, were among those who wanted to see The 400 preserved as a theater. When they first moved to the neighborhood, they loved that they could walk to the movies, a bookstore, the beach and the Red Line. As they waited for “Spiderman” to start, the couple appreciated how Stancil not only reopened the theater, but swept up the popcorn himself.

“He’s from the Midwest,” Meyerowitz said. “I think there’s a very specific type of attitude that comes from being someone who cares about things, who’s a hard worker, who’s not trying to be flashy.”

The 400 is not flashy, at least in its first week. There are still patches on the walls that need new paint, doors that need to be fixed and popcorn machine motors that squeak. Stancil knows this, and has already made calls on those to-do’s, but he contends that his priority was opening the theater.

He plans to work with Nicola McCafferty, a PhD candidate in Northwestern University’s screen cultures program, on the theater’s programming and in the coming months he’ll bring in a 35-millimeter projector. The 400’s titles will always include at least one kids’ film, along with future programming like a Sam Neill retrospective, stoner comedies and a Kristen Stewart series, he said.

He’s also betting that his prices — $11 for evening shows and $6 for children under 11 — will draw a steady crowd in a K-shaped economy.

“If you turn this into a splurge, it’s just stupid. I love movies and I love movie theaters, but it’s just not a Taylor Swift concert,” he said. “This is not a bucket list thing to go to this movie. But it’s one of those simple things that people always remember.”