Sony eyes Cinerama Dome revival in Hollywood
Sony Pictures is reportedly in talks to reopen the long-shut Cinerama Dome and former ArcLight Hollywood complex on Sunset Boulevard.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
3 min read
Sony Pictures may be stepping into one of Hollywood’s most famous empty movie houses.
Deadline reports that the studio is in talks with Robertson Property Group on a lease that could reopen the Cinerama Dome and the former ArcLight Hollywood multiplex, which has been closed since the pandemic hit in 2020.
The outlet reported that the finer points of the potential deal are still being worked out, including any reopening date. Sony did not respond to Deadline’s request for comment.
Deadline also reported that sources believe Alamo Drafthouse, the dine-in theater chain owned by Sony, could be involved if the revival goes ahead. Sony bought the Austin-based chain after ending its pursuit of Paramount Pictures in summer 2024, according to the report.
A prize theater has sat dark since Covid
The property sits at 6360 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Before its shutdown, it was operated by Pacific Theatres and ArcLight Cinemas.
Deadline reported that the Dome and ArcLight Hollywood had once been planned to reopen in May 2021, around the releases of Paramount’s A Quiet Place Part II and Disney’s Cruella. That did not happen after the Decurion umbrella group, controlled by the Forman family and tied to ArcLight Cinemas, Pacific Theatres and Robertson Property Group, ran into pandemic-era financial distress and entered Chapter 7 bankruptcy, according to the report.
Other former ArcLight and Pacific sites found new operators. Deadline noted that Regal took over the Sherman Oaks Galleria and Pasadena locations, Amazon picked up the Culver City ArcLight, and AMC took on leases including Pacific’s theaters at The Grove and Glendale Americana.
The Hollywood site, however, has remained the big prize. Deadline reported that the Forman family has held private meetings with exhibitors and studios about finding a new operator, with AMC and Amazon MGM Studios among those that considered the location and passed.
According to Deadline, the family wants to keep ownership of the property. The outlet also reported that, because of the Chapter 7 process, the ArcLight name cannot be used for future versions of the site.
Why Hollywood is watching
A reopened Dome would arrive during a stronger post-pandemic box office year. Deadline reported that the domestic box office had reached $5.4 billion through Sunday, the best pace since 2019.
Before Covid, the Cinerama Dome and ArcLight Hollywood ranked among the top 10 grossing multiplexes on many weekends, according to Deadline. The ArcLight was also a key Los Angeles launch site for independent, arthouse and awards-season releases, including films from companies such as Searchlight, A24 and The Weinstein Co., the outlet reported.
The Dome’s history runs back to 1963, when Pacific Theatres founder William R. Forman announced it at a groundbreaking attended by Spencer Tracy, Buddy Hackett, Mickey Rooney, Dick Shawn, Edie Adams and Dorothy Provine, according to Deadline.
Deadline reported that Forman had promised United Artists the theater would be ready for the Nov. 7, 1963 world premiere of Stanley Kramer’s It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, the first film shot in the new 70mm single-strip Cinerama process. The building was completed in 16 weeks.
The Dome later appeared in Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 Sony release Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Deadline described it as the only concrete geodesic dome on Earth, made from 316 hexagonal and pentagonal pieces in 16 sizes, each about 12 feet across and weighing roughly 7,500 pounds.
The adjoining ArcLight Cinemas multiplex opened in 2002 with 15 screens and stadium seating, according to Deadline.
This story draws on original reporting from Deadline.