ArcLight opens cinema in Culver City

ArcLight Cinemas is expanding its presence in Los Angeles County.

The Pacific Theatres-owned premium chain known on Friday will open a new 12-screen cinema in Culver City. The newly converted ArcLight theater was previously branded as a Pacific location.

The multiplex would be the eighth ArcLight location for the Los Angeles-based company, which will face some competition in the area from Cinemark, which recently opened a high-tech luxury cinema in Playa Vista.

“Culver City is home to a bustling community that combines new, trendy restaurants and nightlife with a deep rooted history in the entertainment industry,” said Gretchen McCourt, the chain’s executive vice president of cinema programming. “We had long been searching for the perfect destination to bring ArcLight Cinemas to the Westside, and Culver City, with its rich history and appreciation for the arts, gives us just that.”

Founded more than a decade ago by Pacific Theatres, which also operates the movie theater in the Grove shopping center, ArcLight Cinemas has helped reshape the cinema-going experience in Los Angeles.

Its theaters serve a mix of programming that includes Hollywood blockbusters, art house fare and cult classics, in a luxury environment. Signature amenities such as reserved seating, commercial-free movies and gourmet food, have been embraced by consumers and copied by other theater companies. The ArcLight Culver City will include a bar serving cocktails.

The circuit’s success has fueled a steady expansion in Southern California and beyond. The company, which owns theaters in Hollywood, Pasadena, Sherman, El Segundo and La Jolla, plans to open a 14-screen theater in Santa Monica later this year.

ArcLight recently opened theaters in Bethesda, Md., and Glenview, Ill. It also owns and operates the historic Cinerama Dome and programs the TCL Chinese Theatre and IMAX in Hollywood.

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