As reported by Deadline, Arclight Cinemas and Pacific Theaters closed their doors over a year ago due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and “despite a huge effort that exhausted all potential options, the company does not have a viable way forward.”
“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,” Decurion said in a statement. “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.”
Deadline notes that it heard the chain was shooting for reopening its theaters around Memorial Day weekend with A Quiet Place Part II and Cruella, but it appears that hope has run out. The news is that much more unfortunate as California governor Gavin Newsom’s June 15 wide-open order is expected to allow Los Angeles County to have movie theaters operating at 100%.
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The Hollywood Arclight multiplex on Sunset Boulevard and its 58-year old Cinerama Dome is one of Decurion’s most well-known theaters, and was featured in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It is also one of the highest-grossing movie theaters in the nation.
According to Deadline, Decurion has “handed the keys back to the landlords on all their Arclight and Pacific properties.” This is all part of a thick lease negotiation, and the landlord will be able to decide “which keys to keep and which they’d like to return to the exhibitor.”
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Considering the Cinerama Dome, which was constructed in 1963, has become such an important part of the Los Angeles movie scene, there may be hope for some other company like AMC to come in and give at least that theater another chance at life, although there has been no word of a potential sale as of yet.
One of the many reasons the Cinerama Dome is worth saving is that it is the only concrete geodesic dome on Earth, and it also houses the largest contoured motion picture screen in the world, measuring in at 32 feet high and 86 feet wide.
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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.