The ArcLight and Pacific Theaters announced yesterday that they were closing due to the pandemic.
"After shutting our doors more than a year ago," the company said in a statement, "today we must share the difficult and sad news that Pacific will not be reopening its ArcLight Cinemas and Pacific Theaters locations."
It goes on to say, "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."
ArcLight Hollywood
A Hollywood landmark
Even if you've never been to Los Angeles, you'll probably recognize the famous Cinerama Dome from Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, where it lights up the night with its neon sign. It opened in 1963 with the premiere of Stanley Kramer's It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World and has been going strong ever since.
ArcLight locations in Sherman Oaks, Culver, and Santa Monica will also shutter. And so will Pacific Theaters in the Grove.
But the ArcLight Hollywood is the most famous spot. It's home to the Dome, and the place you can see stars any night of the week. Sometimes they're checking out their own movie, other times they're just out for a laugh or to see a huge title. The Cinerama Dome is the only concrete geodesic dome on Earth. The theater is made up of 316 individual hexagonal and pentagonal shapes in 16 different sizes. Each of these pieces is roughly 12 feet across and weighs around 7,500 pounds.
The Dome is also home to the largest contoured motion picture screen in the world, measuring 32 feet high and 86 feet wide.
Still a staple in Los Angeles, the theater was publicly mourned by hundreds of filmmakers and thousands of people on social media last night. Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson wrote on Twitter, "Well this sucks. Every single person who worked at the ArcLight loved movies, and you felt it. Sending love to every usher, manager and projectionist who rocked that blue shirt and made it such a special place."
We here at No Film School all knew and loved the theater as well. We're adding our own tributes below.
The Cinerama DomeCredit: ArcLight Cinemas
No Film School Says Goodbye
Jason: My most special memory at the ArcLight was standing next to a poster for my movie, Shovel Buddies, which had a screening there. I got to watch all my friends pack into an auditorium and see my work come alive on the best screen in town. It was a thrill that I'll carry for a lifetime. And the group hug they delivered after will sit with me forever. Aside from that, ArcLight Theaters felt like a haven for cinephiles. In the lobby you could be yourself, nerding out over the costumes or sets on display. There was always a celebrity walking around with their cap pulled low. Art the bar, lively debates would strike up between people waiting to see something special. I have been to the Dome many times, but seeing 2001 projected there was like a religious experience. And when I saw Fury Road, I was sitting next to Danny DeVito, who leaned over at one point and said, "This kicks ass." There are too many memories to list here, but I hold out the hope someone will save our spot.
Jo: The ArcLight Hollywood was literally the first place I went by myself when I moved to Los Angeles. I went to see Brit Marling's Another Earth. I think I was even the only person in the screening, since it was a weird time of day. Hollywood magic, activate! There was never a moviegoing experience like the one you would get at the ArcLight—fighting gymgoers for parking, maybe sneaking over to Amoeba (in its original location), passing the buskers outside the theater, and if you had time, grabbing some food or browsing the gift shop. I loved the ushers, the movie intros, the Q&As, the popcorn, that one seat in the Dome I'd always try to get. This was truly a place that kept my love of film alive through some hard years, and although it will probably be back in some form, I'll always miss the version of my second Hollywood home the way it was.
George: Growing up in LA, the ArcLight was one of our treasured few moviegoing landmarks that continued to deliver the theatrical goods. Every time a big movie came back, I rushed to see it there first. From the first time I saw the director's cut of Blade Runner, to the first time I saw Lawrence of Arabia projected. But the most memorable experience I had at the ArcLight will always be opening weekend for Spring Breakers, where most of the packed crowd was expecting something entirely different than what was delivered. I couldn't stop laughing while countless misled audience members walked out muttering. LA is a "what have you done for me lately" kinda town, and whenever an old stand-by vanishes we lose a little bit of the brief history of movies that exist in our city architecture. This loss is big not just for those of us who treasure the big screen, but for those of us who care about this city and its relationship to its history, and most popular export.
Summing it up...
As you can see, the ArcLight been a temple for moviegoers for decades and would show glorious old prints, restorations, and new releases. While many are calling for rich filmmakers to buy the place, others fear that studios will step in to purchase it, or even worse, it'll be torn down and made into condominiums.
This is a sad day in Hollywood.
