Arclight and Pacific Theaters Close Permanently

Pacific Theaters, which owns the arthouse chain Arclight Cinemas, announced that it will not be reopening any of its locations even as theaters in Los Angeles, where the chain holds many of its locations, have been able to reopen with 50% capacity limits.

“After shutting our doors more than a year ago, today we must share the difficult and sad news that Pacific will not be reopening its ArcLight Cinemas and Pacific Theatres locations,” the chain said in a statement. “This was not the outcome anyone wanted, but despite a huge effort that exhausted all potential options, the company does not have a viable way forward.”

Pacific Theaters operated approximately 300 screens in California, including seven Arclight Cinemas locations. Arclight also operated locations in Boston, Chicago, and Bethesda, Maryland.

In Los Angeles, Arclight was best known for its flagship Hollywood location on Sunset Boulevard, which included the historic Cinerama Dome. Built in 1963, the Cinerama Dome was the first new major theater built in Los Angeles in over 30 years and opened with the world premiere of the Stanley Kramer comedy “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.”

Prior to the pandemic, the Arclight Hollywood had become a key location for indie distributors like A24, Focus, and Fox Searchlight, as it was one of four theaters regularly used for platform releases of Oscar contenders like “Moonlight” and “Parasite.” As the pandemic has pushed radical changes on how studios release their films, it is possibly that a four-screen release followed by a slow nationwide rollout may become a thing of the past for indie and specialty films. But if the strategy does persist, it will have to do so without a theater chain that has served as one of its cornerstones.

Read the full statement below:

After shutting our doors more than a year ago, today we must share the difficult and sad news that Pacific will not be reopening its ArcLight Cinemas and Pacific Theatres locations.

This was not the outcome anyone wanted, but despite a huge effort that exhausted all potential options, the company does not have a viable way forward.

To all the Pacific and ArcLight employees who have devoted their professional lives to making our theaters the very best places in the world to see movies: we are grateful for your service and your dedication to our customers.

To our guests and members of the film industry who have made going to the movies such a magical experience over the years: our deepest thanks. It has been an honor and a pleasure to serve you.

Pacific Theatres

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