BY ETAN VLESSING | HollywoodReporter.Com
Troy Warren for CNT
The exhibitor, which includes Arclight Cinemas, will liquidate assets to repay creditors.
The impact of the pandemic has Pacific Theatres Exhibition Corporation not opening the doors on its ArcLight Cinemas and Pacific Theatres locations.
The embattled exhibitor, with in all 16 locations, has instead filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy to liquidate its remaining assets for its creditors, the company said on Friday. “We are deeply grateful to our employees, our guests, and the film community for coming together over the past decades to create so many wonderful moviegoing experiences,” Pacific Theatres Exhibition said in a statement.
Parent Decurion Corp. shut down Pacific Theatres permanently in April, along with sister chain ArcLight Cinemas. In its Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing, Pacific Theatres indicated it had liabilities at around $69.08 million.
“We are overwhelmed by the extraordinary outpouring of memories. Thank you for sharing these with us. We will miss you all,” the company added. Rival exhibitors like AMC, Cinemark and Marcus Theaters are expected to be kicking the tires at Pacific Theatres to see if they can pick up additional theaters.
The Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing is not expected to impact an earlier deal for AMC to assume the leases and operations of Pacific Theatres’ The Grove location in Los Angeles and The Americana in Glendale. Both outdoor malls are owned by Rick J. Caruso, and his company Caruso Affiliated.
There is also speculation that Decurion Corp. may reopen the prized Cinerama Dome Hollywood as it owns the land on which it stands.
Arclight and Pacific Theatres had operated more than 300 screens in California, including the coveted Cinerama Dome in Hollywood, before facing the impact of the pandemic and theater closures in the last year. ArcLight’s stable includes the Cinerama Dome Hollywood.
The Dome, built in 1963 by the Decurion Corp. is the crown jewel of the small theater complex that was reconstructed in the early 2000s. Throughout the decades, the Dome in particular has been a favorite site to stage premieres — it timed its opening to the global launch of It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World — and is beloved among many cinephiles.
In recent years, the ArcLight Hollywood complex has been a bastion for both first-run movies and independent titles and was among the first L.A. cinemas to offer high-end food. ArcLight’s locations in Hollywood and elsewhere, including Sherman Oaks, were operated by Pacific Theatres.
The Pacific side of the aisle includes such popular locations as the Grove in West Hollywood. Outside of California, there are Arclight Cinemas in Maryland, Boston and Chicago and Bethesda Maryland.
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