Sony and Alamo Drafthouse to reopen Cinerama Dome
Cinerama Dome made its debut on Sunset Boulevard in 1963. Until it closed its curtains in 2021 and its screens went black during COVID-19, the dome stood as one of Hollywood’s most enduring and instantly recognizable architectural landmarks.
This week, Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) and its subsidiary Alamo Drafthouse Cinema announced plans to restore and reopen the movie theater.
Cinerama Dome’s geodesic roof and structure, consisting of 316 interlocking concrete panels, is reminiscent of Buckminster Fuller’s designs. While the building wasn’t designed by Fuller himself, the experimental architect’s oeuvre influenced its lead designer Pierre Cabrol, who worked for the firm Welton Becket Associates at the time but had trained under Fuller. The theater was designated as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 1998.
When it opened Cinerama Dome was “era-defining” in more ways than one: Its 86-foot-wide, deeply curved screen reigned as the largest contoured motion-picture screen in the world for a time. The typology lends itself to simple, cheap, and efficient construction; there were even plans to scale the Cinema Dome concept.
Over the years Cinerama Dome has advanced its technology to screen a range of photographic systems and film gauges, these include digital film, 3D film, and 35mm and 70mm. Sony said following the restoration, the complex—Cinerama Dome and the adjacent ArcLight Cinemas—will “retain” 35mm and 70mm capabilities, while also screening content in 4K laser projection.
Under Alamo’s tutelage the theater’s interiors and the movie-going experience as a whole will also harken to Cinerama’s past. Toward this end, the theater’s signature branding—its red, white, and blue signage—will stay put and its concession experience will be just as patrons remember.
Sony also said it would restore the 14-screen theater complex, formerly ArcLight Cinemas, located next to Cinerama Dome. This venue will be christened as an Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. In addition to the screening rooms, expect space for programming and events, karaoke rooms to sing your heart out in, and Alamo’s dine-in experience.
“Hot damn! We’re bringing the Dome back, baby,” Tom Rothman, chairman and CEO of SPE 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.”
Since the theater, along with other ArcLight locations, went dark in 2021, there have been rumblings on what the venue could become. A filing for a liquor license in 2022 hinted at menu offerings that hit a higher price point than popcorn.
The film industry is still reeling, plotting to return revenue to pre-pandemic profits and finding peace with digital streaming services. (MMCG research found the U.S. box office generated approximately $8.8 billion in 2025, down from roughly roughly $11.4 billion in 2019.)
For Cinerama Dome, the path forward: lean on a hankering for nostalgia.
