The Cinerama Dome

The Cinerama Dome on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood, is one of the premier movie theaters in the world. The Cinerama Dome is for many the best place in Los Angeles to see a wide screen movie for anyone, but especially kids and families. This classic movie theater was built to house the Cinerama wide screen movie process and the geodesic dome architecture by R. Buckminster Fuller was considered a radical design. Located near Vine St. and Sunset Blvd. was built in 1963 with designs by Welton Becket and Associates. Pacific Theaters had committed to United Artist Studios that the theater would be completed for the premiere of the first motion picture shot in 70mm, single strip Cinerama process for Stanley Kramer's "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World". The finished theater has the largest contoured motion picture screen in the world, spanning 32 feet high and 86 feet wide. Cinerama ushered in the wide screen motion picture with its three-projector process in the 1950s. The Cinerama Dome built in the 1960s, never used the three-protector process. The Cinerama Dome was designed as a prototype to be used as a showcase for the Cinerama process, but only a few of these theaters were ever built. The space-age theater was renovated in 2000 and reopened as part of Pacific Theaters' Arclight Hollywood complex. Improvements include better acoustics and audio sound system; along with digital projectors and more recently, laser projection system. The Cinerama Dome has even been fitted with the original three-projector system to screen original Cinerama productions. With Los Angeles the epicenter of the film industry, for cinema fans the iconic miss-century Cinerama Done is considered the best spot for first run movie premieres and film festivals in Southern California. The theater was designated a Historic and Cultural Monument by the City of Los Angeles in 1998. The Cinerama Dome continues to dazzle audiences. It is a symbol of Los Angeles and the motion picture business. It is a rare example and icon of modern architecture and a landmark movie palace.