The ongoing saga of the Cinerama Dome, among the most iconic movie theaters in Los Angeles, took another twist on Tuesday. Reports surfaced that Sony and Alamo Drafthouse, the theater chain owned by the company, have been in talks to take over operation of the venue.The theater and the adjacent 14-screen Arclight Hollywood multiplex have been closed since March 2020. In April 2021 it was announced the venue would not be reopening and it has sat dormant ever since, becoming the focus of intense public interest.Representatives for Sony did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The news of Sony and Alamo’s interest in the property was first reported by Deadline.A city hearing in May regarding alcohol sales at the site provided a rare opportunity for public comment on the property. “I know that this has been hard and it has seemed like the citizens versus the ownership — that’s not what it is,” local preservation advocate Kim Cooper said. “People want to come together and help and bring this place back.”The Dome has long been owned by the family of William R. Forman — the founder of Pacific Theatres — who opened the Dome in 1963. In a phone interview with The Times following the May meeting, Elizabeth Peterson-Gower, a land use consultant representing the venue’s owners, said that they hoped to have a reopening time frame “in the near future.” Sony purchased the Austin, Texas-based Alamo Drafthouse chain in 2024, with venues in major cities all across the U.S., including L.A.The Cinerama Dome news comes on the heels of a strong summer of moviegoing, as audiences have been flocking to theaters to see movies such as “The Odyssey,” “Toy Story 5,” “Backrooms” and “Obsession.” There has been a newfound attention on theatrical presentation and film formats, including the limited number of venues capable of projecting Imax 70mm or 70mm film, around the country.Theatergoing in L.A. has been undergoing a renaissance of its own. The Alex Theater in Glendale is showing a first-run movie with “The Odyssey” for the first time since 1991, while the American Cinematheque has relaunched the Village Theater in Westwood under the new name the Directors Village to acknowledge the consortium of filmmakers who took over ownership.
