TCL Chinese Theatre

Dear Escott O. Norton,

Thank you very much for responding on my comment and thanks a lot for giving me information about LAHTF.org. I wish we’d more time back in the 8o’s to be able to visit one or two more of those magnificent Movie -Palaces. All I could do was passing the beautiful marquees and the huge buildings – wondering how it would look inside(?). Now I had the oppurtunity to view a few of the Palaces (gasping for air again). It really would have been a shame harming the beautiful interior of the “Chinese” whilst converting it to “IMAX 3D”. I am aware that the technical progress throughout the past years would shurely not stop outside this historic building. I followed the work that had been done on small movies like “TCL Chinese Theater Renovation Time Lapse” or read articles on the subject, also to be added 6 more screens. What a shame that seating reduction had to be done. Throughout the past years every single cinema over here had to face convertion from Original 35mm print into digital/digital 3D projection (not “Imax” of course, as buildings are mostly too small) .There was and still is no other choice.

Congratulations on this fabulous work you do. Wish we could have an Organisation like yours over here in Germany. Mostly these buildings “crumble” down, after undergoing a process of vandalism, until day of Demolitian. Mind you, the first Movie-Theatre in my hometown (build by my Great-Grandfather, opened in 1929, seating 600), is still standing(unused of course, but “up”).

The “Chinese” will stay my No.1 favorite Movie-Theater of all time. Wish I could experience it again.

Good luck and best wishes to you and your work at"LATHForg" from Germany

Back in 1982 my twinsister and two friends travelled through the States. All was organised by ourselfes and our journey,(which was a “lifetime” never to forget adventure, was titled “1982-What a way to go….to Hollywood”. Arriving in Los Angeles with “Pater Brown” (the used car we bought in Arizona named after it’s owner before, who was a priest) we headed straight for “Graumann’s Chinese Theatre”, which I only knew from the Movies to be shown at my Grandparents Cinemas back in Germany. Before starting the journey we promised Martin, our projectionist, who unfortunately couldn’t attend the journey, to bring back an original “Graumans Chinese Theatre” Ticket. Only to find out at the lovely ticket- booth outside that it was impossible to just buy the thing and walk away again. So my sister and I decided to buy three tickets and watch the show.

The movie to be seen was “TRON”.

I will never ever forget the first look inside the beautiful foyer. We were made so welcome there. Had a talk with the Manager and before entering the Auditorium we were invited to have a look inside the Projection-booth. Entering the Auditorium, I gasped for air, as I had never ever seen such a huge and such a beautiful designed Auditorium. Walking down the aisles was like walking on clouds. I couldn’t believe that I was actuelly h e r e…until the curtain opened….and then I knew I was in “Cinema-Heaven”. I didn’t actually “see” “TRON”, I experienced it, with the mighty sound-system, on that huge Screen, presented in the highly skilled technology at that time. Unforgetable….! A never to forget visit at “Graumans Chinese Theatre”, just like our journey was. I wasn’t able to visit it again. Recently I found out about the severe changes this historic landmark had to undergo. It’ll never be the same again.

Who wants to take a picture and post the Friday LA Times Arclight/Pacific ad featuring the Chinese Theaters? Would love to see how they feature them compared to the other theaters.

Mark: They’ve been double booking ArcLight & Chinese since “Gravity” opened. Surreal, I know.

When they duel book titles with the Chinese, Arclight Hollywood still pulls in much larger audiences; plus, they receive money from booking the Chinese/the benefits of being able to book an additional house with the tittle. On those occasions when a movie is only booked at the Chinese, the Arclight Hollywood usually has a full slate booked for itself, receives money from the Chinese booking, and reaps the booking perks of having that house available for the movie. It’s a win/win for the Arclight/Pacific group, as the Chinese doesn’t impact their business levels to any notable degree, pays them for booking, and provides another venue to shore up their buying clout (a high profile venue at that).

markinthedark – “So essentially does this mean Pacific/Arclight books and manages the place and splits the profits (if any) with the owners?”

Pacific/Archlight is just the “film buyer” and likely has a marketing deal in place too (i.e. why the Chinese is included in their advertising). The Chinese has its' own management, staff, etc. Many independent operators utilize outside “film buyers”, as there is more leverage through pooling resources (i.e. the more theatres, the greater the buying power). Smaller operators often contract out their purchasing, human resources, etc. for the same reason.

Thanks. Up in Seattle now and I miss the LA Times Theatre ads on Fridays.

RobertAlex or Chris: Can one of you snap a photo and post the a current Pacific Theaters listing in the LA Times with The Chinese Theatres listed? Would love to see it.

So essentially does this mean Pacific/Arclight books and manages the place and splits the profits (if any) with the owners?

It’s Mann Theatres that is extinct, not Pacific.

That makes sense since ArcLight books them.

They’ve almost finished the box office remodel. While still in the same location (adjacent to Hollywood Blvd. sidewalk), it is now much more prominent and wraps around the corner, in to a street side entry (entrance which provides access to the escalator on the right and Grauman’s on the left). A definite upgrade from the somewhat inconspicuous configuration which existed previously.

bigjoe59… there has certainly been an increase in business as well as a decent turnover in films. The biggest problem with the Chinese right now (and this is going to sound strange) is that very few people know about it. When Mann started dumping off theaters and the Chinese lost what little booking power it had to Arclight and the El Capitan, a lot of people (myself included) kind of abandoned the theater. Not because I really wanted to, but because it wasn’t the (overall) best place to see a movie anymore. There was no reserved seating and (worst of all) usually nothing of interest to see there. I can honestly say that in the past 5 years I’d only gone to Grauman’s to see Fast and Furious, District 9, Clash of the Titans, Predators, McGruber, Harry Potter 7.2, and X-Men: First Class (I didn’t even attend one single movie there in all of 2012). So that’s 7 movies in 5 years. Since the IMAX conversion I’ve been there at least once a month (going again tonight to see Jack Ryan, which will be my 5th trip there in 4 months). But that’s us here on CT. I don’t think the public at large is really aware of the changes. It was painful and sad to watch the Dome pack itself rather quickly for Catching Fire while the Chinese was half to half+ full. But I think (hope) that people are becoming more aware and we’ll see what happens this summer, which will have Spider-Man, Godzilla, Edge of Tomorrow, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Transformers 4, Jupiter Ascending, and Into the Storm giving them plenty of product to choose from.

Does Arclight program the 6-plex as well?