One of Hollywood's most recognizable movie theaters is being brought back to life. Sony Pictures Entertainment confirmed on Wednesday that it will restore and reopen the Cinerama Dome and the adjacent former ArcLight Cinemas complex on Sunset Boulevard, ending years of uncertainty over the fate of a building that has sat dark since the pandemic. The project will be run by Sony-owned Alamo Drafthouse, which will operate the revived complex.
For film fans in Los Angeles, it is the news they had nearly given up hope of hearing. The Dome's distinctive white geodesic shell has been a fixture of the Hollywood skyline for more than six decades, and its closure left a conspicuous hole in the city's moviegoing culture.
What's being restored
Renovations are expected to begin next month and run through early 2028. Crucially for preservationists and longtime patrons, Sony said the "Cinerama" name and the theater's iconic exterior sign will remain intact, and the project will honor the landmark's "distinctive aesthetic character, immersive large-format curved-screen presentation, and traditional concession experience." Built in 1963, the Cinerama Dome is the world's only concrete geodesic dome and features an 86-foot-wide curved screen designed to wrap audiences in a panoramic image.
The neighboring ArcLight multiplex is getting a substantial reinvention as Alamo Drafthouse's new West Coast flagship. Sony said the renovated complex will add the chain's signature dine-in service along with curated and repertory programming, events, dedicated karaoke rooms and fan celebrations. It will also retain 35mm capability for archival prints and add premium-format screens with immersive audio, 4K laser projection and 70mm.
Why it closed — and why this time is different
The complex at 6360 Sunset Blvd. has been shuttered since the COVID-19 pandemic drove Pacific Theatres and ArcLight Cinemas into collapse in 2021. The Dome and ArcLight had actually been scheduled to reopen in May 2021, timed to the releases of "A Quiet Place Part II" and "Cruella," but those plans evaporated when parent company Decurion Corp. entered Chapter 7 bankruptcy. In the years since, other former ArcLight locations reopened under operators like Regal, AMC and Amazon MGM Studios, while the flagship Hollywood site stood empty — the subject of repeated on-again, off-again reopening rumors.
What makes this announcement more concrete is the backing behind it. Sony acquired Alamo Drafthouse in 2024, giving a major studio both the theater chain and the incentive to anchor a marquee venue in the heart of Hollywood. "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, calling the project "a meaningful moment for our company, our industry, and Los Angeles."
A landmark's second act
Before it closed, the Cinerama Dome and ArcLight Hollywood complex ranked among the highest-grossing theaters in the country and served as a frequent home for premieres and awards-season screenings. Its revival is being cheered locally as a boost for Sunset Boulevard. Alamo Drafthouse chief Michael Kustermann framed it as returning to Los Angeles "one of its most beloved and culturally significant moviegoing destinations," while the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce called the Dome "an enduring symbol of our community's extraordinary place in the history of film."
The reopening is still more than a year out, and a 1960s landmark is a delicate thing to modernize without erasing what made it special. But after years of speculation and false starts, the plan is now official — and the Dome, for the first time since the pandemic, has a date with the future rather than the wrecking ball.
