Barry Levinson's Old Theater Becomes Zen Home Cinema
By Arlen Schweiger
The Rain Man director used to own this house, whose media room got a Buddha lounge and electronics upgrade.

Rain Man would have loved to watch some Jeopardy and People’s Court in this home theater.

Physically, it’s the same space that would have had guests like Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman over while director Barry Levinson (The Natural, Rain Man) screened movies on a then-state-of-the-art projection system featuring dual Runco CRT models.

But more recently, under new ownership, it was time to give this Hollywood hangout room located in Northern California’s affluent Marin County a makeover. After all, the old projectors beamed onto a 4:3 screen, and now’s the age of CinemaScope 2.35:1 home viewing.



Local custom electronics pro Rolling Thunder Group of San Rafael, Calif., was tasked with doing the theater transformation, along with some more rooms in the multimillion-dollar home.

“We originally were contracted to redo the family room system, kids room system and replace the backyard speakers. Of course, we couldn’t wait to get out hands on a redo of the dedicated theater,” says Rolling Thunder’s Jeff Symonds. “The system had stopped functioning and was unusable. With dual Runco CRT projectors, 4:3 fixed screen, a ton of weird interface gear and an original Crestron controller the size of a 22” TV we began discussions to make it a fun room for the owner and her two kids to enjoy.”

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