Both formats shortly fell out of fashion, and Krakatoa, East of Java from 1969 was the last non-standard film to be shown at the Cinerama in the first era of its existence.

[2] Lackluster ticket sales quickly led to a general decline in the theater's upkeep, until it was relegated to playing second-run movies after being taken over by Cineplex Odeon on a reduced rent, month-to-month basis.

[3] 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.

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.

A professional crew is required to dismantle the smaller screen and assemble the larger one for Cinerama and special event presentations.

[9] In May 2020, the Seattle Cinerama, citing the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, announced that it would remain closed for the foreseeable future.

The Metropolitan King County Council approved their own $1 million grant a week later that would draw from unused state and federal pandemic relief funds.

[citation needed] Warner Brothers chose the Seattle Cinerama as the theater in which to premiere the newly restored 70mm print of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

[citation needed] In 2012, Paul Allen paid for a new 70mm print of 2001: A Space Odyssey to be produced for the first annual Cinerama Science Fiction Film Festival.

[26] In March 2016, the Cinerama was one of only ten theaters in the nation to show Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in 70mm for its first week.