The Cinerama Dome: A Landmark of Hollywood History in Photos

The announcement that Hollywood’s Cinerama Dome and ArcLight Cinemas would not reopen left Los Angeles film buffs in shock. Built as a showcase for the three-panel Cinerama process, the Dome became a Hollywood landmark and beloved theater. But by the time construction was finished in 1963, the three-panel Cinerama process was no longer in use. So the theater opened with the premiere of “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” in regular widescreen projection with a slightly wider aspect ratio. Over the years, the Dome has been one of the top places in Los Angeles to see films in 70mm and a favorite spot for premieres and film festivals.

• Opening night: ‘It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World’ in 1963

  Journalists and celebrities were flown in from around the world for the opening of the Cinerama Dome and premiere of Stanley Kramer’s comedy “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.” Variety reported before the dome’s opening that the theater was set to cost “approximately four times as much as the $250,000 pricetag Nicolas Reisini, prexy of Cinerama Inc., predicted.” Architects Welton Becket & Associates predicted a cost of $1 million to turn Cinerama’s ambitious geodesic design into a buildable structure.

• Premiere night ribbon-cutting, 1963

  Dignitaries and stars arrived for opening night on Nov. 7, 1963. Governor Edmund “Pat” Brown cut the ribbon with Mickey Rooney, Stanley Kramer, Ethel Merman and Mrs. Brown looking on at the premiere of “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.”

  Pacific Theatres executives missed no opportunity to milk the construction of the Hollywood Dome for publicity value.

  Before the opening, in August 1963, a ceremony attended by actor Rosalind Russell was held as “the first pentagonal panels” of the concrete geodesic dome were hoisted into place above Sunset Boulevard, as Variety reported. Construction work was done on a round-the-clock basis from July 1963 until hours before “Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” unspooled at its premiere.

• The Cinerama Dome was meant to be a model

  Shown during opening week in 1963, the Cinerama Dome was planned as the first in a series of geodesic concrete domes to be built around the country. The theaters would showcase films made with the Cinerama process, and Cinerama — which is still owned by Pacific Theatres — would supply free screens and projection equipment to exhibitors who built the theaters. It was said they could be constructed for $450,000 each.

  In 1963 Variety reported on plans to build a second Cinerama Dome in the Lakewood area near Long Beach, which never materialized. An aluminum Cinerama Dome was erected by Pacific Theatres in Las Vegas in 1965 and remained open until the building was demolished to make way for a mall in 1985.

• Cinerama Dome threatened, 1998

  Film and architecture buffs from the L.A. Conservancy and Friends of the Dome rallied in 1998 to make sure the dome was properly preserved after a lobby restaurant and stadium style seating were proposed for the interior. Even the iconic red and blue sign would have come down. Instead, the ArcLight complex, which opened in 2002, wrapped around the dome, which remained largely intact.

• Denzel Washington and Pauletta Washington at the ‘Antwone Fisher’ premiere, 2002

  Film festivals including the Los Angeles Film Festival, the Hollywood Film Festival and AFI Fest used the ArcLight Cinemas as a homebase. Denzel Washington-starrer “Antwone Fisher” opened the AFI Fest in the Cinerama Dome the year the ArcLight opened.

• Po the Panda at the Dome for ‘Kung Fu Panda 2’

  Po the Panda of “Kung Fu Panda 2” fame loomed over the Cinerama Dome in May, 2011.

• Godzilla bursts through the Dome, 2019

  Over the years, the Dome hosted a giant John Belushi head for “1941,” while it was bedecked as a flowery hat for “Mame” in 1974. In 2019, Godzilla’s snout appeared to be was bursting out of the top for the opening of “Godzilla: King of the Monsters.” 

• Brad Pitt at the ‘Ad Astra’ premiere, 2019

  Since its opening, the Cinerama Dome and later the ArcLight Cinemas have been popular venues for Hollywood premieres. Brad Pitt walked the red carpet for the 2019 Cinerama Dome premiere of “Ad Astra.” 

• ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’

  Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth drive by the Dome during its premiere of Maximilian Schell’s “Krakatoa, East of Java” in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” which played at the Dome in 70mm. 

• ‘The Peanut Butter Falcon’ Premiere, 2019

  Dakota Johnson poses for photographers at the ArcLight premiere of “The Peanut Butter Falcon” in 2019.

• The pandemic-era Cinerama Dome, 2021

  Closed for the duration of the pandemic, the Cinerama Dome and adjacent ArcLight Cinemas are now in limbo. Since Pacific Theatres owns the property outright, it’s at least possible the company could reopen the venue under a different business structure, or lease to a different operator. The Dome has some protection as a historic monument, so it’s unlikely it could be torn down or even repurposed.

• Fans leave flowers in tribute. 2021

  A bouquet of flowers was left at the ArcLight Hollywood the day after it was announced the theaters would close. Los Angeles filmgoers are in mourning.