One of Hollywood's most celebrated films is about to disappear from a major streaming platform.
Chinatown, the 1974 neo-noir starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway, will be leaving Paramount+ next month, according to Collider. The film, directed by Roman Polanski, originally opened during what many consider the greatest era of American filmmaking and went on to gross nearly $30 million against a reported budget of just $6 million.
Nicholson plays a weathered private eye who gets pulled into a conspiracy with roots deep in the power structures of Los Angeles. The film has been both celebrated and referenced extensively in the decades since its release, and it remains a landmark of the crime genre.
The departure from Paramount+ comes as interest in Los Angeles noir has gotten a modest boost from a newer film. Crime 101, starring Chris Hemsworth as a master thief and Mark Ruffalo as the detective pursuing him, paid tribute to the L.A. noir tradition. The film underperformed at the box office but found its audience on Prime Video, where it continues to draw viewers with an 88% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Chinatown remains the standard against which films in that tradition are measured. Viewers who have not seen it have until the end of this month to catch it on Paramount+ before it exits the platform.
