To say you are just watching a movie at the famous ArcLight Cinerama Dome is an understatement and almost an insult to cinephiles. From the ushers introducing the film to being immersed into a 70mm film due to its majestic curved screen, a trip to the dome was an experience.
The Dome is where I went to escape to the movies every time I visited or LA or when I eventually moved here. It’s where I saw V for Vendetta. Django Unchained. Sin City. The press premiere of Netflix’s Lost in Space. Shazam! And countless other films. Even a bad film played better in the Dome.
And now sadly, the theater along with the other Arclights in California as well as Chicago and Glenview are now closing, victims of the pandemic.
Owners Pacific Theaters said late Monday they are ceasing operations, closing all of their roughly 300 screens mostly found in California. In a statement on their website, the parent company said:
“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.”
None has inspired more distress among Hollywood notables than the Cinerama Dome on Hollywood’s Sunset Boulevard.
Designed by Welton Becket Associates in 1963, the theater’s centerpiece is a geodesic dome of 316 interlocking concrete panels. The site of many Hollywood movie premieres, the Cinerama Dome has been described by the L.A. Times as “one of the finest theaters in America.”
The Arclight opened in 1963 with the premiere of Stanley Kramer’s extravagantly wide-screen comedy It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World — with its swinging hook-and-ladder finale.
Since then, the Arclight has since hosted dozens of Hollywood premieres, including Shrek 2, for which it was painted green and fitted out with tubular ears. It has also figured in movies and television shows including Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time In Hollywood.
RELATED: New Will Smith film ditches Georgia over voting laws
The outpouring of sadness from Hollywood has been notable:
“I’m so sad,” tweeted actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt. “I remember going to the Cinerama Dome to see Star Trek IV with my dad when I was little. So many memories since then.”
As devastating as this news is, Reel 360 remains hopeful that someone else will buy at least The Dome and save the Arclight name and tradition. How does the AMC Arclight sound? Or the Regal Arclight? Or the Netflix Arclight? You get the idea.
The Dome was pure Hollywood. The Dome WAS movies.
Colin Costello is the West Coast Editor of Reel 360. Contact him at colin@reel360.com or follow him on Twitter at @colinthewriter1
