Pacific Theatres is closing its 500 theatres, and one of them is the Hollywood Cinerama Dome:
Celebrities mourn future closure of iconic Cinerama Dome, Arclight Cinemas due to coronavirus pandemic - ABC News (go.com)
My first movie in Hollywood, the day I arrived to start my stint at March AFB, was “2001: A Space Odyssey” at The Dome, and my last movie, the day before I left the Air Force, was “Apocalypse Now” at The Dome. I was just a kid from Spirit Lake, Idaho. I was used to the Rialto in Spokane, so when I entered that giant dome I was amazed at the size and grandeur of that theatre, and was blown away by seeing a movie in 70mm Cinerama and listening to a movie through a damnfine sound system. That place made me appreciate the hard work and vision it takes to make movies, and is the reason why I insist on seeing some films in theatre instead of just downloading them onto a smart phone or tablet-I want to see and hear the details that are there for all to experience…if one cares enough to want it.
Mann’s Chinese was an experience, the Egyptian was grand, but The Dome rises above them all in my heart.
Anyone else have memories and/or thoughts about the Hollywood Cinerama Dome?
Thanks to its Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument designation it’s not likely to be demolished, but some moron might want to turn it into a multiplex, which would be even worse in my opinion. Like most movie theaters, the inside is far more impressive than the outside.
The only movie I got a chance to see there was Remo Williams.
I don’t hold that against the theater. 
I have been fortunate to have some great movie experiences (not just “viewing”) at the Dome. The most memorable was seeing Close Encounters of the Third Kind there. Not unlike the characters in the movie, we all felt the mothership approach long before it came into view.
I saw Apocalypse Now there, but we got in line too late, so we had the almost front row, neck craning seats. Not the best experience.
During a re-release of Fantasia, I got to see that at the Dome and it was pretty magical. Was almost more “symphonic concert” than movie going experience.
These theaters arent necessarily closing. Handing the keys back to the landlord is a negotiating tactic.
I’m not sure (I was pretty young), but I believe I saw It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World there. I think I remember gasping when the airplane flew through the billboard because the image was just so huge and overwhelming. And I think I remember the intermission screen and theme.
I’m sure I saw something there as a kid. I know I saw 2001 first run at a major Hollywood-area theater but I can’t say for sure it was that one; plenty of screens were showing that blockbuster.
I also know there were several other dome-designed multi-screen theater complexes in SoCal at the time. I saw Andromeda Strain first run in 1971 at the Cinedome Theatres in Orange, CA.
Here’s a very interesting well-informed post from earlier today on the likely evolution of the cinema industry.