The turnaround began in 1997 when developers revealed plans to turn the Cinerama into a dinner theater or a rock-climbing club.
This sparked a grassroots effort to save the historic venue, with local film buffs circulating petitions and issuing an urgent cry for help, which was answered by multi-billionaire Paul Allen, himself a movie fan and patron of the theater during its 1960s heyday.

Allen purchased the theater and initiated a comprehensive, multimillion-dollar restoration.
The grand re-opening occurred in 1999.
Since then, the theater has played both classic movies and select new productions.

The renovation restored the look of a great mid-20th century movie house, and also saw the installation of state-of-the-art technology and accessibility features.
The theater now contains 808 seats and two screens.
The first is a deep curved 90-foot-long, 30-foot-high screen, constructed of 2,000 louvered strips.
 It is used for presenting rare three-strip films such as How the West Was Won and 70 mm classics like Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The deep curve screen is stored in sections behind a smaller screen used for regular screenings of modern 70 mm/35 mm first-run movies.
 A professional crew is required to dismantle the smaller screen and assemble the larger one for Cinerama and special event presentations.
The turnaround began in 1997 when developers revealed plans to turn the Cinerama into a dinner theater or a rock-climbing club. This sparked a grassroots effort to save the historic venue, with local film buffs circulating petitions and issuing an urgent cry for help, which was answered by multi-billionaire Paul Allen, himself a movie fan and patron of the theater during its 1960s heyday.
Allen purchased the theater and initiated a comprehensive, multimillion-dollar restoration. The grand re-opening occurred in 1999. Since then, the theater has played both classic movies and select new productions.
The renovation restored the look of a great mid-20th century movie house, and also saw the installation of state-of-the-art technology and accessibility features. The theater now contains 808 seats and two screens. The first is a deep curved 90-foot-long, 30-foot-high screen, constructed of 2,000 louvered strips.  It is used for presenting rare three-strip films such as How the West Was Won and 70 mm classics like Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. The deep curve screen is stored in sections behind a smaller screen used for regular screenings of modern 70 mm/35 mm first-run movies.  A professional crew is required to dismantle the smaller screen and assemble the larger one for Cinerama and special event presentations.
Seattle Cinerama