Best New Build Cinema: Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Crystal City

Alamo Drafthouse Crystal City— a 9- screen, 915-seat theater—features the company’s next-generation Premium Large Format standard, The Big Show. The 100% recliner, 237- seat auditorium features a state-of-the-art 4K Laser projection system, optimized for the enormous 66+’ wide x 28+’ tall screen, and transformative Dolby Atmos audio technology capable of producing 76,000 watts of amplification distributed through 52 speakers for a truly immersive, three-dimensional audio experience.

Alamo Crystal City has a unique interior theme, inspired by the theater’s proximity to the historic Washington National Airport. From aviation design elements throughout the lobby and hallways to a horde of snakes attacking a plane at the entrance to The Big Show, the theme continues throughout the building and completely takes flight in the theater’s specialty bar, Departures which draws inspiration from both the cinema’s proximity to the airport as well as the Art Deco style of the building’s exterior, a style which enjoyed its peak during the Golden Age of Flight in the 1920’s.