ArcLight Cinemas

6360 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90028 | map |

The news: Pacific Theatres announced in April 2021 that they wouldn't be reopening any of their Pacific or ArcLight locations. See links to many stories about this on the Cinerama Dome page. Yes, this one will reopen eventually but there's been no announcement.

It's a 14 screen complex that opened in 2001. Along with a 24 Hour Fitness, a couple of restaurants and various other tenants, it wraps around the backside of the 1963 vintage Cinerama Dome. Here we're looking east toward the ArcLight lobby with the Dome at the left.  Photo: Bill Counter - 2013

Phone: 323-464-1478   Online: The old arclightcinemas.com site now is just a landing page. See the new site: www.cinerama.com

The complex is on two levels -- half of the theatres are up, half down. The ArcLight offered reserved seating with a mix of blockbusters, art fare and revivals. There was a nice restaurant in the lobby as well as a bookstore/coffee bar. Discounted parking was available in the adjacent garage. The ArcLight brand was an offshoot of the Pacific Theatres chain. Decurion is the parent company. 

Status: Closed, with all the other theatres in town, in March 2020. Decurion hasn't announced a reopening date for the complex. 

 

 

A November 2003 photo by Linda Mayberry. She notes that she was there to see "The Commission" in one of the smaller theatres as part of the AFI Fest.  

 

An undated view of the courtyard taken from the parking garage that appeared on the now-vanished site Public Art in LA. 

 

A closer look at the light standards from Public Art in L.A. 

 

 

Looking toward the lobby. Photo: Bill Counter - 2013 

 

 

 

Gregg Young and the 2nd St. Band playing in the courtyard. Thanks to Gregg for sharing the photo. He comments: 

 

"I was Music Director / 'House Band' leader at the Dome for 17 years. Music in the Courtyard was me and one of my lineups. We were the secret sauce. 70 performances a year or so... Longest steady gig I ever had!" 

 

 

A look toward the parking garage during a concert. Photo: Gregg Young

 

 

Another courtyard concert shot. Thanks to Gregg Young for the photo. See a 2019 story about Gregg and the 2nd Street Band's Arclight shows on the site Voyage LA. His site: greggyoung.com.

 

 

The entrance in July 2021, shortly after some of the boards covering the doors had been removed. A few days later the boards were back up. Photo: Bill Counter 

 

 

"Welcome to the Dome." Well, it's not much of a welcome with plywood still over the doors. Photo: Bill Counter - July 2022

Interior views:

The boxoffice. The stairs beyond go to the upstairs auditoria. Photo: Bill Counter - 2013 

The gift shop on the north side of the lobby. Photo: Bill Counter - 2007

 

The south side of the lobby. The cafe is in the raised area beyond. Up above center is the entrance to auditorium 8. There's a bar area on the upper level to the right. Photo: Bill Counter - 2013

 

The stairs to the upper auditoria. Thanks to Richard DuVal for his 2018 photo, one of five ArcLight views in a post on the Movie Palaces, Theatres & Cinemas Facebook page.

The lobby from above. Photo: Bill Counter - 2013

A photo by Genaro Molina for the L.A. Times that appeared with "How will movie theaters make customers feel safe after coronavirus?," an April 30, 2020 Times article by Ryan Faughnder. It was just one piece in a special Calendar section report with 11 articles titled "Coming....Someday. What's Next For the Movies?" Much of the section was about what has to happen to get production started but Ryan's article was more about the theatre end of the business. 

 

 

A look into the dead lobby during a short period when the boards covering the doors had been removed. Photo: Bill Counter - July 30, 2021 

 

 

The stairs to the downstairs auditoria. Photo: Richard DuVal - 2018 - Movie Palaces, Theatres & Cinemas

An inner lobby area. There are two --one for the upstairs houses and another downstairs. Photo: Bill Counter - 2013

One of the ArcLight auditoria. The screen in the largest house is 62'. The photo appeared with a Modern Home Theatre article about the complex.

 

A view of a speaker system installation showing the components installed in a THX-style baffle wall in one of the ArcLight theatres. It's a photo from the Modern Home Theatre article.

  

The ArcLight in the Movies:

With the big clock in the lobby, was this the inspiration for the ArcLight? "Do you really like movies? When's the last time you went to see a movie in a theatre?... A movie that really meant something to you?" asks Lindsay Lohan in Paul Schrader's "The Canyons" (IFC Films, 2013). 

This wide-angle shot of the abandoned Grand 12-plex in New Orleans is in the opening credits for the film, which begins and ends with desaturated views of abandoned movie theatres. Written by Bret Easton Ellis, it's a thriller about some sad people on the fringes of the film business. See the Theatres In Movies post for more shots from "Canyons."

More information: See the page here on this site about the Cinerama Dome. There are links to stories about the chain's April 2021 decision to not reopen and a discussion about what's happened to the other ArcLight and Pacific Theatres locations. 

And visit the Cinema Tour page for 25 photos of the complex. You'll also find some nice exterior views on From Script to DVD. Cinema Treasures has a combined page for the ArcLight and the Dome.

The Pacific Theatres complex in Culver City had been re-branded as an ArcLight in 2015. See our page on what is now Amazon's Culver Theatre. In 2015 they also opened a new complex in Santa Monica Place. See a 2014 story about the chain's expansion in the Santa Monica Mirror.

The ArcLight complex from south of Sunset on Vine St. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010

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