What started as a dream for two friends growing up in the Quad Cities over 25 years ago becomes a reality this weekend. On Dec. 9, filmmakers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods are set to welcome audiences to the grand opening of The Last Picture House, their new boutique cinema and cocktail lounge.
“Bryan and I probably first started dreaming of building a movie theater since we were kids,” Beck recalled. “I mean, we've known each other since we were 12 years old. We grew up in Bettendorf, Iowa, and we started making movies together. And here it is, you know, finally manifested.”
Located along the Mississippi River in Davenport’s Motor Row District, The Last Picture House offers audiences a curated movie-going experience, as well as a place to gather with fellow patrons at the bar and lounge area.
The theater is equipped with two screens; the larger houses 150 seats. The other holds 48. There is also a rooftop bar and outdoor screening space for seasonal use, which will accommodate an estimated 80 to 90 guests.
As film lovers, Woods said that exhibiting a variety of films for all ages and tastes was a top priority. While they're perhaps best known for their work as screenwriters on the 2018 horror film A Quiet Place and, more recently, as directors of the sci-fi thriller 65, the filmmaking duo’s influences run wide and deep.
“Our love for cinema knows no bounds,” Woods explained. “We are connoisseurs of a great lowbrow Adam Sandler comedy as much as we love François Truffaut and the French New Wave movement. So we love it all, and we hope that this theater is an expression of our passion and love for cinema.”
Grand opening weekend
In addition to revival screenings of classic and cult films, audiences can expect to see major new releases, including independent and international films that might not otherwise be available in the Quad Cities.
“We want to make sure that we're providing some really excellent brand new films for people to see that they might not catch at the multiplex,” Woods said.
One such film is The Iron Claw, the new professional wrestling drama from studio A24. Beck and Woods recently announced that Iowa audiences will have an opportunity to see the film weeks before its nationwide release during the theater’s grand opening weekend on Sat., Dec. 9.
Beck said anyone interested in securing tickets to the advanced screening should sign up for their Autograph Club membership to receive early access.
Early reactions
Since their soft opening on Nov. 20, some eager moviegoers have already gotten a taste of what The Last Picture House has to offer.
“So many people have shown up,” Woods remarked. “We didn't even know anyone knew about this theater yet. And seeing their faces as they come in here has just made all the hard work worth it.”
Beck and Woods honored one of their favorite films — and the namesake of their theater — by kicking off their soft launch with a special screening of The Last Picture Show, the 1971 coming-of-age classic starring a young Cybill Shepherd and Jeff Bridges. Directed by the late Peter Bogdanovich, part of the plot concerns a locally owned movie theater in a small Texan community.
Beck said the response to that screening was exactly what they were hoping for.
“We had a packed house for that film, and that was at 3:30 in the afternoon, believe it or not, on a Monday,” Beck said. “And the reaction, sitting in the audience, was people were glued to the screen. They sat through the entire credits. They applauded. That brought a smile to our faces.”
Honoring Hollywood history
As Iowa natives, Beck and Woods felt it was important to pay tribute to the state’s many Hollywood connections, including one in The Last Picture Show. That film featured Des Moines-born actress Cloris Leachman, who earned an Academy Award for her performance.
Actresses Donna Reed of Denison and Jean Seberg of Marshalltown each have an auditorium in the theater named in their honor. Reed starred alongside Jimmy Stewart in the holiday classic It’s a Wonderful Life, while Seberg is best known for her role in the landmark French New Wave film Breathless.
“We're very excited with the history that lives both here in Davenport and in Iowa — and finding little ways that we can bring that to life,” Beck said.
Beck and Woods have also found ways to bring Hollywood history to within arm’s reach by displaying rare film art, props and posters throughout the theater. Woods said The Last Picture House is, in part, a museum of the many artifacts they have accrued over the years.
“We have French posters of movies like The King of Comedy, Scorsese's classic. Of course, we have a Field of Dreams poster because we have to, as Iowans,” Woods said. “It runs the gamut, from The Wizard of Oz and some of the Douglas Sirk movies. It's a collection that's growing, and we’ll also get pieces that are on loan, so the hope is to swap in and out different artwork.”
Memorabilia connected to the films Beck and Woods have made will also be on display, including the costume worn by Adam Driver in their latest film, 65.
Project origins
Although opening their own movie theater had been a dream since childhood, Beck said he and Woods had only seriously started developing a plan around four years ago.
“We were roaming around downtown Davenport, where we used to shoot our old student films, and saw an old building sitting on the corner of the historic Motor Row District and felt like this could be the perfect place to build a movie theater,” Beck recalled.
According to Beck, there were numerous challenges involved in the development of the theater.
“We took over a building that was built in 1895, and it lived previous lives as a marine sales place where they were selling boats, auto mechanics. It was anything but a movie theater,” Beck said. “But we saw the potential there, and we're kind of pinching ourselves.”
Along with Beck and Woods, the theater’s ownership team includes Pete Stopulos, Jens Baker, Julia Glausi and Christy Beck.
For Stopulos, co-owning The Last Picture House means more than running a movie theater.
“This is beyond a passion project for me. It’s a tribute to my grandfather, Jim Stopulos, who created unique cinematic experiences in the Quad Cities area for nearly 25 years,” Stopulos said in a press release.
The theater’s general manager, Jameson Ritter, said he hopes The Last Picture House can serve as a hub for both film lovers and the local arts scene as a whole.
“Cinemas are an incredibly vital part of the community fabric in showcasing art and entertainment in its various capacities,” Ritter said. “There's a really great corridor here of businesses that are passionate about amplifying and appreciating the arts, and we want to be one of those.”
Directors by day
Despite moving back to the Quad Cities to run their own independent cinema, Beck and Woods don’t intend on slowing down as filmmakers. The directing duo say they plan to split their time between making movies and exhibiting them.
“Our day job is as filmmakers,” Beck said. “But to us, it’s like icing on the cake to help, along with the incredible team here that we have at The Last Picture House, really oversee the experience that we are trying to curate.”
Their latest project, Heretic, recently entered post-production. The upcoming thriller, which Beck and Woods wrote and directed, stars Hugh Grant and will be distributed by A24.
