As a movie-loving Angeleno, I’ve seen countless films at the Cinerama Dome on Sunset Boulevard. The immaculate, globular vintage structure made a cameo in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood,” and has existed as a landmark of L.A. film culture for nearly sixty years. If you lived in L.A. for any period of time, and you consider yourself a movie person, odds are you caught a show or two at the Dome. (The Dome, for context that will hopefully become clear in the next paragraph, is owned by Pacific Theatres, and located directly next door to ArcLight Cinemas’ Hollywood location.)
Well, now the thing that many Angeleno cinephiles feared would happen has, in fact, happened: Deadline has recently reported that ArcLight Cinemas and Pacific Theatres, both of which are owned by The Decurion Corporation, have handed the keys back to their respective landlords, with no plans to reopen anytime soon. No matter how you spin it, this is a devastating blow – not just for the L.A. film market, but also for movie theaters in general.
If we’re being honest, the writing has been on the wall for some time now regarding ArcLight’s future. First, there was the curious news about their Culver City location getting hit with a three-day eviction notice, and apparently, there have been whispers speculating that if locations weren’t up and running in time for Memorial Day Weekend, when tentpoles like “A Quiet Place II” and “Cruella” are expected to clean up, box office-wise, then the future might look very dire indeed. What’s more, these theaters would already be struggling to make things work without seatings at 100% capacity, so this news couldn’t have come at a worse time.
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It should be noted that neither ArcLight nor Pacific are bankrupt, per se, and that someone could conceivably swoop in and save the day at the eleventh hour (somebody get Christopher Nolan on the phone). It’s worth mentioning that ArcLight and Pacific outlets are located all over L.A., including Hollywood, Pasadena, and Santa Monica (for the record, there are also ArcLights located in Boston and Chicago).
In any case, no matter how you slice it, this is crappy news. Anyone who has ever been lucky enough to see a film in the Dome can tell you what a magical experience it is, and that there’s really no other place like it in LA. Apart from seeing recent masterpieces like “Call Me By Your Name” and “Dunkirk” in their immersive, 800-plus seat theater, this writer’s personal Cineramadome highlights include seeing the potentially stoned duo of Harmony Korine and Matthew McConaughey attempting to make sense of “The Beach Bum” during a post-screening Q&A, and also seeing a ravenously enthusiastic Quentin Tarantino introducing “Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood” to a frothing-mad crowd a few weeks before the film’s domestic release. The Dome is a special place: it’s a true piece of history in a city that can feel like it’s disappearing in real-time, and no matter what happens to it, those of us who were lucky enough to call it our local theater shall cherish the memories we made there.
Here’s the statement from Arclight/Pacific, per Deadline:
“After shutting our doors more than a year ago, today we must share the difficult and sad news that Pacific will not be reopening its Arclight Cinemas and Pacific Theatres locations.
This was not the outcome anyone wanted, but despite a huge effort that exhausted all potential options, the company does not have a viable way forward.
To all the Pacific and Arclight employees who have devoted their professional lives to making our theaters the very best places in the world to see movies: we are grateful for your service and your dedication to our customers.
To our guests and members of the film industry who have made going to the movies such a magical experience over the years: our deepest thanks. It has been an honor and a pleasure to serve you.”