Neighborhood News: Rogers Park’s Century -Old 400 Theater Rises Again
The 400 Theater, 6740 N. Sheridan Road, has survived World War 1, the Jazz Age, the Great Depression, World War 2, urbanization, gentrification, two pandemics, and several generations of Loyola University college students. The ever-changing, culturally and economically diverse, eclectic neighborhood that is Rogers Park has continued to evolve around the theater. But the need for entertainment and community is the constant across the decades.
Now, after three years of closure, like Phoenix, the 400 is rising again. The 114-year-old theater, under new management, opened last week to serve a new generation of theater goers.
History
As a recent Chicago Reader article stated, since it first opened in 1912 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. It’s also had quite a colorful history of managers and operators.
“The 400 Theater was originally called the Regent Theater when it opened in 1913,” Dona Vitale told WTTW three years ago. “And when it opened, it showed all the first-run silent films including ‘The Perils of Pauline.’” It had one screen and could seat 725 people, according to the Digital Research Library of Illinois History Journal.
The Regent Theater was one of its earliest movie houses and originally sat about 725 in its auditorium. It was equipped with a Kimball 2 manual 4 ranks organ.
Early on, the name was changed to the Village North Theater.
In 1930, Essaness Theaters Corp. took over the theater and it was renamed the 400 Theater, according to CinemaTreasures, reopening with Bebe Daniels’ “Dixiana” and organist Mildred Fitzpatrick at the console of the ‘Grande Organ’. It was renamed again to the “400 Theater.”
Why ‘The 400?’ According to the Illinois Digital Research Library, at the time, “The Four Hundred” was a popular term for the top four hundred people in Chicago’s high society. Keeping the name for over 65 years, the theater changed with the times, even splitting the auditorium into multiple screens, calling itself the “400 Twin.”
During this time, one of the owners, the infamous Ron Rooding, 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!
In 1995, the 400 divided into four small auditoriums, three seating about 200, one only about 150. It was purchased by the owners of the Village Theater in the Old Town neighborhood and modernized, and given the name of the Village North Theater. During the pandemic, according to Block Club Chicago, it pivoted to stay afloat by offering private theater rentals, selling concessions on its patio and by operating as a coronavirus testing center.
Tony Fox of Evanston’s ADF Capital, the building’s owner and last operator, shuttered the theater in 2023 for renovations, leaving the far north side without a cinema. The nearest option, according to the Reader, was the AMC Evanston 12.
Today
CinemaTreasures.com reported that the 400 had been leased by Jordan Stancil, an operator of several vintage movie theaters in Michigan, in December 2025. They re-opened as the 400 Theater on July 31, 2026. Current offerings include:
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day:” is showing daily at 12:00 PM, 3:15 PM, 6:30 PM, and 9:45 PM.
“I Want Your Sex:” is showing daily at 2:00 PM, 4:30 PM, 7:00 PM, and 9:30 PM.
On Friday, August 7:
They show the classic ‘Sunset Boulevard’ at 2:00PM, as well as ‘The Odyssey’ at 12:30PM, 4:15PM and 8:00PM, and ‘In the Mouth of Madness’ at 4:45PM. The theater is cashless. For tickets and information, click here.
Alison Moran-Powers and Dean’s Team Chicago
