Clay Theatre is a historic 1913 single screen theater building in the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco, California, United States.[1] It was formerly known as The Regent, The Avalon, The Clay International, and Landmark's Clay Theatre. It has been listed as a San Francisco Designated Landmark since May 6, 2022.[2]
It was founded in c.1913– c.1914, as The Regent, a nickelodeon-style small movie theater often showing Mary Pickford films.[2][3] It later became The Avalon in 1931.[2][3]
In 1935, it opened as The Clay International under the leadership of Herbert Rosener, and was focused on showing foreign films.[2][4] It was the first theater in the city dedicated to foreign film.[2]The Song to Her (1934), and Goodbye, Beautiful Days (1935) were shown here in 1935.[5]
In the 1950s, the building exterior was greatly modified, including moving of the ticketing booth and a change to the shape of the entrance (formerly an archway).[1]
In modern-day, the single screen theater held 325 seats.[1] Filmmaker John Waters had remembered early showings of Pink Flamingos (1972) at the Clay Theatre.[6] It was also known for midnight showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), after the film release and a decade after.[7][8] The Clay was part of a chain of indie theaters across the United States owned by Landmark Theatres starting in 1991 (and sometimes called Landmark's Clay Theatre).[1]
Closure
The vacant and boarded up Clay Theatre in February 2025
In late January 2020, shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Clay Theatre was closed by Landmark Theatres.[1][6] In 2021, the owner removed the seating from the theater and filed an application to convert it to retail use.[9]
The local community rallied in hopes of the building re-opening as a movie theater,[1] and in May 2022 it was designated a city landmark.[2]
In February 2024, the theatre and the adjacent building, which then housed the store Alice + Olivia, were purchased by investment trusts linked to Neil Mehta.[9][10] In June 2025, Mehta's Upper Fillmore Revitalization Project announced plans to reopen the Clay Theatre as a 200-seat repertory cinema after nenovations to upgrade its facilities and improve fire safety and ADA compliance.[11] Ted Gerike, the founder of Now Instant Image Hall, a cinema and bookstore in Los Angeles, was hired as creative director of the theater.[12][13]
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