Sony, Alamo Drafthouse in Talks to Reopen Cinerama Dome

The future of the long-closed Cinerama Dome and its adjacent multiplex formerly known as ArcLight Hollywood has taken a new turn as Sony is in talks for a potential lease and reopening with the Robertson Properties Group, TheWrap has learned.

Once among the highest grossing theaters in Los Angeles and a popular gathering place for cinephiles and industry insiders, the Cinerama Dome has remained closed since the COVID pandemic, as ArcLight Cinemas announced that it would not reopen in 2021.

According to Deadline, which first reported the talks, premium theater chain Alamo Drafthouse, which Sony acquired in 2024, would likely be involved in operating the chain should an agreement be reached on the lease. Sony declined TheWrap’s request for comment.

The majority of the former chain’s other locations have been taken over by new tenants, including its Sherman Oaks Galleria location, which now has new seats and an Imax auditorium after an extensive refurbishment by Regal, and its Culver City location, which is now operated by Amazon.

The Cinerama Dome was opened in 1963 by William R. Forman, the founder of ArcLight’s parent company, Pacific Theaters, and is still owned by Forman’s grandson, Chris Forman, CEO of the Decurion Corporation.

While insiders have told TheWrap that other theater chains like AMC and Regal have at least approached Decurion and Robertson Properties Group about leasing ArcLight Hollywood and the Cinerama Dome, talks have never significantly progressed.

Insiders also told TheWrap last year that any reopening of the multiplex would require a costly refurbishment that would involve new seats, concessions equipment, sound and picture upgrades, new fire alarms and accessibility lifts to meet building codes, and if the new owners so chose, major changes to the Dome’s interior to make it more suitable for 70mm screenings.

But Sony may be the company willing to foot that bill, as the company housed Alamo Drafthouse in a new division called Sony Pictures Experiences led by Alamo CEO Michael Kustermann.

While the chain has been criticized by longtime patrons over its recent change to a mobile ordering system despite its “no phones” policy, Alamo was the sixth highest-grossing theater chain for the opening weekend of Universal’s “The Odyssey” and the only chain in the top 10 to not have an Imax screen, instead screening the film in 35mm and 70mm across its locations nationwide.

Decurion, meanwhile, has been very secretive about any potential reopening plans for the Cinerama Dome, which has drawn the ire of Los Angeles’ cinephile community. Film student Ben Steinberg, who has organized the “Save the Cinerama Dome” grassroots campaign, has drawn more than 12,000 followers on social media with his updates on the closed theater and protests against Forman and Decurion.

After a protest in which Steinberg projected Forman’s face onto the Dome itself in April until ordered to turn off the projector by police, Steinberg announced that he would put his organizing on hold to avoid legal action from Decurion and Robertson Properties Group.

A month later, representatives for Robertson told local officials at a zoning board meeting that the company was working “to ensure the Cinerama Dome and the Dome Theater Complex can reopen in the future,” during a hearing to renew the building’s conditional use permit to serve alcohol. Robertson has made similar promises at past zoning board meetings to renew the permit but has never provided a timetable for reopening.