It’s Finally Showtime Again at Hollywood’s Cinerama Dome – Commercial Observer

Get your popcorn ready, Los Angeles. One of Hollywood’s most beloved movie theaters is finally coming back.

Sony Pictures Entertainment and its Alamo Drafthouse Cinema subsidiary announced Wednesday they struck a long-term lease to restore and reopen the Cinerama Dome on Sunset Boulevard and the adjacent 14-screen former ArcLight Cinemas complex, six years after both went dark during the pandemic.

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“Hot damn! We’re bringing the Dome back, baby,” Tom Rothman, chairman and CEO of Sony’s Motion Picture Group, said in a statement. “We believe in moviegoing down to our soul, and no venue on Earth stands more for that than the one-of-a-kind Dome. I am deeply proud that Sony is investing in Hollywood, literally.”

The Cinerama Dome is expected to reopen in early 2028, with renovations beginning next month to preserve its 86-foot-wide curved screen and large-format presentation.

JLL’s Ken Shishido represented Alamo Drafthouse in the lease. CBRE’s Nicole Mihalka, Muhlstein Commercial’s Carl Muhlstein and JLL’s Scott Burns and Shauna Mattis represented the ownership of the Dome Entertainment Center.

Alamo will operate the landmark, but the Dome will not offer dine-in service like at typical Alamo theaters. The neighboring former ArcLight multiplex will reopen as an Alamo Drafthouse with dine-in service, 4K laser projection and 70-millimeter cinematic capabilities. Sony acquired Alamo Drafthouse in 2024.

The deal carries far more significance in addition to filling a long-vacant theater complex.

“This lease marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for one of Hollywood’s most iconic and beloved properties,” Mihalka said in a statement. “The Cinerama Dome has been a cultural landmark for generations, and bringing Sony Entertainment and Alamo Drafthouse to the Dome Entertainment Center is a strong vote of confidence in the future of theatrical entertainment and the continued demand for shared moviegoing experiences.”

The unmistakable landmark opened in 1963. It’s a Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument and it has been one of the city’s signature moviegoing destinations and a premier venue for 70-millimeter films. Its closure in March 2020 — followed by the announcement in 2021 that ArcLight would not reopen its theaters — left the property dormant. It stood as a painful symbol of the state of show business and moviegoing.

“There is no moviegoing destination anywhere in the world that commands the affection, history, and cultural significance of the Cinerama Dome,” said Ravi Ahuja, chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment. “It represents the kind of singular experience we value and champion. … This is a meaningful moment for our company, our industry, and Los Angeles.”

Cinerama Dome’s revival also arrives as L.A.’s moviegoing culture is finding new momentum, despite the mounting financial distress suffocating local studio owners. The historic Alex Theatre in Glendale recently returned to first-run film exhibition for the first time since 1991, while a group of 35 filmmakers — including Christopher Nolan, Steven Spielberg and Jason Reitman — acquired Westwood’s historic Village Theatre and is undertaking a $25 million restoration.

Meanwhile, demand for Nolan’s “The Odyssey” has also sparked renewed enthusiasm for in-person experiences that cannot easily be replicated at home. Tickets for IMAX 70-millimeter screenings sold out almost immediately, with demand at one point crashing AMC’s app.

Gregory Cornfield can be reached at gcornfield@commercialobserver.com.