The big-screen cinema inside OMSI, Portland's nonprofit science museum on the Willamette's east bank. Alongside science and nature documentaries on its giant screen, it programs first-run features, 3D films, and special screenings — a different moviegoing experience from the city's neighborhood houses.
The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry opened its riverfront campus on the east bank of the Willamette in 1992, anchored by a large-format dome theater that screened OMNIMAX films for two decades. After the dome closed, the space was rebuilt as the Empirical Theater, which opened in 2016 with a giant flat screen, 3D projection, and a large sound system.
