Los Angeles’ historic Bruin Theater achieved its ambitious fall reopening goal on Friday, Oct. 23, but its return is already facing a challenge from the companies behind its first attraction. Laika and Fathom Entertainment say they filed a lawsuit to stop the Bruins from releasing “Wildwood.”
The film was previously announced for a one-week run at the recently reopened Westwood theater. But in a joint statement provided exclusively to IndieWire, the animation studio and its theatrical distribution partner said concerns over controversial comments and behavior from operator Rui Pereira had prompted them to call for screenings to be halted.
“When Laika learned of Bruin’s engagement, we immediately raised our concerns with Fathom Entertainment, our theatrical distribution partner. Laika and Fathom initiated legal action to stop theatrical showings of the film,” the companies said in an email.
“We have not yet received confirmation that screenings will be stopped. We continue to explore our options, as concerns about the theater operator are inconsistent with the values of both of our companies.” IndieWire independently confirmed that screenings of “Wildwood” continued at the Bruin until at least Sunday afternoon, Oct. 25, and at the time of publication, the theater’s website was still advertising daily showings at 1:30 p.m., 4 p.m., 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
Laika and Fathom Entertainment did not specify what type of legal action they had taken to stop the screening of their film. In a phone call with IndieWire, Pereira asked how we obtained a cease and desist letter. IndieWire had neither received nor reviewed such a letter and told Pereira that we had communicated directly with the companies. He continued: “You guys are assholes. Everything you wrote is wrong.”
The dispute introduces an immediate scheduling problem for Pereira’s revived movie palace, which reopened with “Wildwood” after remaining in obscurity since Regency Theaters vacated the space in July 2024. It also follows months of scrutiny involving Pereira, whose checkered history operating Toronto’s Kingsway Theater was the subject of an IndieWire investigation on Sept. 3.
Previous IndieWire reporting examined allegations of assault, non-payment, racial discrimination, online harassment and unauthorized film screenings. The reporting draws on interviews with more than 25 sources in the United States and Canada, as well as court records, digital correspondence, social media posts and years of advertised Kingsway screenings that some rights holders say they did not authorize. Pereira has largely disputed the allegations and called the continued surveillance of his businesses an attempt to undermine his work as an exhibitor.
“There are no controversies and any attempt to generate them is dishonest and fallacious,” Pereira said at the time. “The Bruin Theater is a gift, not only to Los Angeles, but to the entire world: a cultural heritage site that unites generations of moviegoers in the experience of cinema.”
Several journalists described being targeted by Pereira after publishing critical articles or omitting the Kingsway from their reporting. Speaking to IndieWire over the phone and in a subsequent email on October 26, Pereira called IndieWire staff “presstitutes” and accused the publication of being paid to write negative articles about him.
Two volunteers left the Bruin restoration project in August after messages attributed to the Kingsway account circulated among Los Angeles moviegoers. Screenshots reviewed by IndieWire included racist and anti-Semitic remarks, as well as exchanges targeting individual customers. Sources also described threats and a series of prolonged retaliations, alleging that Pereira continued to target some critics online for months or years after their initial arguments.
Asked by The Hollywood Reporter in an August 23 article about some specific messages from Kingsway — including one telling a target to “go back to Poland” and another describing a swastika painted on a Jewish family’s home as “the appropriate symbol for Zionazis” — Pereira acknowledged that the comments were “offensive” and said he “had to take responsibility.”
The current dispute over “Wildwood” also follows separate questions about Kingsway’s programming. IndieWire previously identified 55 announced screenings of 17 films that three rights holders said they had not authorized at Toronto’s Pereira Theater. These results were from a limited sample and did not establish that all or even most Kingsway screenings were unauthorized. “There are no problems with film licensing or any disputes,” Pereira said previously.
Notably, Laika and Fathom’s statement does not suggest that the Bruin’s “Wildwood” booking was unauthorized from the start. Rather, the companies claim they sought to end Bruin’s showings because of specific concerns about Pereira as an operator. “Wildwood” opened in nearly 3,000 theaters across the country, and a booking on that scale hardly constitutes an endorsement of all exhibitors.
Yet independent theaters often build their identity around the tastes and reputations of those who run them. In a beloved landmark like the Bruin, affection for an old movie palace can translate into intense trust in the one who promises to save it. For the moment, the site has achieved the reopening promised by its new operator. Whether the film that brought audiences back can continue to be shown is controversial.
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