Pacific Theatres was an American chain of movie theaters in the

Los Angeles metropolitan area Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino C ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. Pacific Theatres was owned by The Decurion Corporation which also owned and operated ArcLight Cinemas. In 2008, it sold its store locations in San Diego to

Reading Cinemas Reading Cinemas ( ) is a group of cinema chains operating in the United States, New Zealand, and Australia. They are owned by the American company Reading International. History In the late 1980s, through his holding company the Craig C ...

. In April 2021, Pacific Theatres announced they would not be reopening any of their theater locations after being closed since March 2020 due to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

pandemic. In June 2021, the company filed for

Chapter 7 bankruptcy Chapter 7 of Title 11 of the United States Code (Bankruptcy Code) governs the process of liquidation under the bankruptcy laws of the United States, in contrast to Chapters 11 and 13, which govern the process of ''reorganization'' of a debto ...

History

The Forman family founded Pacific Theatres in 1946 and continued to own and operate the company through its Decurion Corporation through its closure in April 2021. The company had some 300 movie screens in California. Pacific also once operated many

drive-in theater A drive-in theater or drive-in cinema is a form of cinema structure consisting of a large outdoor movie screen, a projection booth, a concession stand, and a large parking area for automobiles. Within this enclosed area, customers can view movi ...

s, including in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Thou ...

region. They operated the last drive-in in

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...

, the Vineland Drive-In located in the La Puente area. Pacific Theatre also owned the Valley 6 drive-in theatre in

Auburn, Washington Auburn is a city in King County, Washington, United States (with a small portion crossing into neighboring Pierce County). The population was 87,256 at the 2020 Census. Auburn is a suburb in the Seattle metropolitan area, and is currently rank ...

, which was the last operating drive-in from the United Theatre chain that Pacific ran in the Northwest from the 1950s; it was closed at the end of the 2012 season. Acquisitions over the years include the ArcLight Hollywood and neighboring historic Cinerama Dome in Hollywood. Pacific was also one of the first theatres to have Samsung Onyx screens, introduced in 2018. Pacific Theatres was active in real estate development through its Robertson Properties Group, which was originally formed to re-develop former Pacific drive-in theaters. Today Robertson Properties currently acquires and develops retail, office, and residential properties. Developments included theatres at The Grove at Farmers Market in Los Angeles. The other 20 drive-ins in the Northwest that were owned by United Theatre, were redeveloped by Robertson Properties in the 1980s and early 1990s. On March 17, 2020, Pacific Theatres closed all of its theater locations, including ArcLight Cinemas, to comply with COVID-19 public health mandates. In March 2021, when COVID-19 restrictions were eased in Los Angeles County to allow movie theatres to reopen, all of the Pacific Theatres and ArcLight Cinemas locations notably remained closed. On April 12, 2021, Pacific Theatres announced that it would cease operations permanently, stating "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." On June 18, 2021, Pacific Theatres filed for

. On July 19, 2021,

AMC Theatres AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (d/b/a AMC Theatres, originally an abbreviation for American Multi-Cinema; often referred to simply as AMC and known in some countries as AMC Cinemas or AMC Multi-Cinemas) is an American movie theater chain fou ...

announced that it would acquire the leases to the Americana at Brand in downtown Glendale and The Grove at west 3rd Street in Los Angeles locations and that they would reopen in August of that year as part of the AMC chain. The company has not ruled out acquiring the leases of other Pacific Theatres locations. In December 2021, AMC Theatres also announced that they had acquired the lease to the former location at Northridge Fashion Center in

Northridge, Los Angeles Northridge is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles. The community is home to California State University, Northridge, and the Northridge Fashion Center. Originally named Zelzah by settlers in 1908, the com ...

, which opened in July 2022.

Reading Cinemas

In 2007, Reading International Inc purchased 15 theatres within the Pacific chain in California and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, and on February 22, 2008, became

, with the exception of the Hawaiian theatres, which remained under the Consolidated Theatres banner. The chain's remaining theatres are located only within the greater Los Angeles area, Orange County, and

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

References

External links

Pacific Theatres' website

Pacific Theatres Swap Meets

Decurion Corp.
{{Major USA Cinema Chains Movie theatre chains in the United States Cinemas and movie theaters in Los Angeles Former cinemas in the United States Cinema of Southern California Entertainment companies based in California Companies based in Los Angeles American companies established in 1946 American companies disestablished in 2021 Entertainment companies established in 1946 Entertainment companies disestablished in 2021 1946 establishments in California 2021 disestablishments in California Companies disestablished due to the COVID-19 pandemic Companies that have filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy