AMC Montgomery 16
7101 Democracy Boulevard,
Bethesda,
MD
20817
7101 Democracy Boulevard,
Bethesda,
MD
20817
4 people
favorited this theater
Related Websites
AMC Theatres (Official)
Additional Info
Operated by: AMC Theatres
Previously operated by: ArcLight Cinemas
Functions: Movies (First Run)
Previous Names: Arclight Bethesda
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News About This Theater
- Dec 19, 2014 — "Coming attractions: The rise of luxury movie theaters"
The official opening date was November 7, 2014, but it had it’s pre-opening date with screenings of “John Wick” on October 23, 2014.
This 16 theatre complex has auditoriums as small as being able to sit 70 patrons to it’s larger auditorium at under 300.
State of the art digital projection comes from Christie 2K and 4K systems, with one being able to playback High Frame Rate movies.
One screen is the chain’s deluxe ‘widescreen’ auditorium. Two auditoriums will be able to playback Dolby’s new 360 degree ‘Atmos’ surround sound system.
One screen will be able to present films in 35mm and will showcase the Arclight’s “ArcLight Presents…” series featuring cinema classics, limited releases, and exclusive content.
As it’s other West Coast theatres, the Arclight provided the standard amenities of reserved seating, unique programming, commercial-free movies, beer and wine, gourmet food and Q&As with filmmakers as well as enrolled membership benefits.
It was closed on March 17, 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It was announced on April 13, 2021 that the closure would be permanent in all ArcLight/Pacific theatres.
It was taken over by AMC Theatres and reopened March 3, 2022 as the AMC Montgomery 16.
Contributed by
Jonathan Goeldner
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Recent comments (view all 48 comments)
As I was in the neighborhood, actually today, March 2, was it’s reopening. I was curious to see what it looked like, that huge wall of posters was still there. I inquired about the Dolby Atmos systems, and I got the most convoluted, bonkers explanation of why ‘The Batman’ is not being presented as such - the manager explained it like twice and neither time it made any sense. He also explained that (the previous fourteen) auditorium sound systems have also been downgraded from 7.1 to now 5.1 surround.
I was there yesterday seeing ‘Studio 666’ and it was interesting to see that little changed, the seating from the Arclight is still in place AND surprise, surprise, the vertical masking, whether that was retained for the ultra-large screen (auditorium 6) remains to be seen.
uploaded new photograph of ‘Poster’ wall
I would guess AMC considers Atmos a “premium” format, meaning something they only offer if they can charge extra. Since they only offer Atmos in Dolby Cinema and haven’t yet reconfigured any auditorium as such, that’s why they refused to play it.
In the long term my guess is they’ll convert 6 to a digital or laser IMAX and 7, the other Atmos-equipped auditorium, to a Dolby Cinema. The latter is in the middle of the pack in terms of screen size and capacity…the screen can’t be more than 35-40 feet wide, and with recliners it wouldn’t seat more than 80. But that would be cheaper than installing a new Atmos system in one of the larger auditoriums, so of course that’s what AMC will do. And I guess if people are willing to pay $25/ticket for something they think is a “premium experience” just because the salesman tells them so, that’s the fault of their own stupidity.
Wait, they seriously downgraded all of the auditoriums to 5.1 sound? Originally I was going to give AMC a chance and check the place out since they took over, but if that’s the case, forget it, I won’t be going back…
Saw black panther in theater 7 and it sounded like Atmos was working. However the picture quality was awful almost looked like color banding. Maybe it’s due to the old 2k projector? Theater 6 looked great though I feel like AMC Tyson’s 16 regular theater’s projectors have better contrast, possibly owning
to them being the Sony vs Arclight’s Christie.
Do we know if all the projectors 4K?
Briefly talked to the manger, he wasn’t sure which l auditoriums if any are 4K or 2K. I found this article in 2016 that indicates at least theater 6 would be 4K. I wounded if theater 7 would also be 4k?
https://meyersound.com/news/arclight/
AMC is investing nearly $3 million in this theater and moving ahead to add their signature recliners. Total seating capacity will decrease in each auditorium with the new recliners.
Source: http://robertdyer.blogspot.com/2023/11/amc-montgomery-16-theater-to-add.html