Music Box Theatre – Chicago

The Music Box Theatre in Chicago opened on August 22, 1929, a time when the movie palaces in downtown Chicago each had seating capacities of around 3,000 people. With a capacity of 800, the Music Box was considered a little brother to those larger houses. Like most movie palaces in the United States, the venue had a varied and sometimes tumultuous history, changing hands numerous times, and being used sporadically for Spanish language films, pornographic films and foreign language films between 1977 and 1983.

In recent decades, the Music Box Theatre has been a premiere venue in Chicago for independent and foreign films. It currently has the largest theater space operated full time in the city.
The Music Box Theatre is independently owned and operated by the Southport Music Box Corporation. SMBC, through its Music Box Films division, also distributes foreign and independent films in the theatrical, DVD and television markets throughout the United States.