by Julia Pierrepont III

LOS ANGELES, April 15 (Xinhua) -- The Hollywood community this week tried to reel from the unexpected announcement by Decurion Corporation, owner of the Arclight and its parent company Pacific Theatres brands, that Hollywood's famed Arclight Cinerama Dome movie theater complex would be shuttered - possibly forever.

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

"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," said ArcLight in the touching statement of farewell.

The 300 screens operated by ArcLight compose a fraction of the 41,000 operating by Pacific Theatres before the COVID-19 pandemic, but they loom large in the home of Hollywood.

Moreover, the site of Hollywood's poshest red carpet movie premiers for classics and blockbusters alike for almost 60 years, the Cinerama Dome, a film-geek's paradise, is more like a beloved home-away-from-home than a simple movie theater to the Hollywood film community.

The theater, Located less than 5 miles south of the Hollywood sign, was famous for its stunning, soaring 75-ft dome when it was constructed in 1963 using a unique technique patented by famed architect, author and futurist, Buckminster Fuller.

It's high-end screening and audio systems boast a 126-degree curved screen, Christie 6P dual-head laser projection system and Dolby 3D color separation technology, a unique 3-projector system and Dolby Surround Sound on 44 speakers optimally placed around the theater.

"For the Los Angeles area, the Pacific's ArcLight Cinemas are not just theaters, they are movie house destinations that offered a complete and curated moviegoing experience," said Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst at Comscore Wednesday.

"I'm gutted," tweeted "Guardians of the Galaxy" director James Gunn. "The ArcLight has been an amazing support to cinema in LA. The theaters have been an integral part of so many key moments in my life, I'll miss them forever."

He added, "Every single person who worked at the Arclight loved movies, and you felt it. Sending love to every usher, manager and projectionist who rocked that blue shirt and made it such a special place."

Victoria Mahoney, Second Unit Director of "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" said, "I'd hold my breath, living for the moment when the theater went dark, watching the velvet curtains retract over mystical silence - you truly could hear a pin drop. I cannot describe the levels of wonder, curiosity, hope, excitement, adrenaline and joy that filled my being scalp to toe, seconds before a film started ... Farewell, ArcLight. You have fed this ever-famished dreamer for a lifetime."

After more and more celebrities reacted emotionally, calling the news as "truly devastating," the closure prompted an outcry of grief and a movement to save it.

Jon M. Chu, Chinese American director of "Crazy Rich Asians," told the press, "I am so sad about the ArcLight going away ... it isn't just about the building. It was the philosophy of it. The moviegoers and the staff. The idea that movies could be sacred. That the quality of sound and picture was important, and people were there to make sure it was perfectly delivered to you as the storytellers intended."

He shared the theater's very personal meaning for him: "I had my first premiere for my first feature film ever ("Step Up 2 the Streets") at the ArcLight. It was surreal. Life fulfilling."

He snuck out in the middle of the screening to ask the guys rolling up the red carpet if he could cut off a piece as a souvenir. "When I explained I was the director their faces lit up. They immediately grabbed scissors and cut me a giant square that I still have today in my house."

Beijing - born American filmmaker Lulu Wang was also overwhelmed by the news, tweeting: "Devastating. Too many losses to process. It's just too much ... At some point when I'm less upset, I'll tell you guys a funny story about my first time meeting Quentin Tarantino in the lobby of Hollywood Arclight."

Quentin Tarantino himself is a long time devotee of the Cinerama Dome and even used it as a location for his recent "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," starring Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Actor Lewis Tan, of "Deadpool 2," "Wu Assassins" and "Mortal Kombat" fame, tweeted, "... perfect opportunity for Tarantino, Nolan or even a huge streaming service to save this Landmark, this is a cinema lovers church."

In non-pandemic times, movie theaters are profitable neighborhood anchors that drive traffic to local restaurants and stores, so hope exists that filmmakers with deep pockets or mega streamers like Netflix might still step up to save the iconic theater.

But Edgar Wright, director of "Baby Driver" and "The World's End," opined that a purchase by famous filmmakers wasn't necessarily the best answer.

He felt, long term that, "The solution is, as it has always been, to make films for the cinema screen, and then for studios and exhibitors to work together so we can see them safely and, by doing so, encourage the audiences back." Enditem

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