Basement Theater

[MrAngles]

Hey everybody, I moved to Des Moines recently and I'm in the planning stages of finishing the basement in my new house. I want a home theater and an office down there and would like to make the most of my space (primarily for the theater). The problem space-wise is that there are two round metal support posts in the middle of the basement (indicated on the floorplans as brown dots). Here's a floorplan of the basement as it is now.

Here's what I've got planned so far for the layout:

The ceilings will be about 7 feet tall and I was hoping to do a 120"-140" 16x9 screen, and was hoping to two rows of seating, so a room 18 feet long seems like it would be on the small side. It occurred to me that I could move the back wall a few feet back, and put the post in some kind of pillar, which would allow me to move the seating back a bit, but I'm not sure how well that would work in real life having a pillar there.

I wanted to get some opinions from people who maybe have dealt with a similar issue, or at least people with projectors and a large screen to see what thoughts you you have on having a pillar in the room, or if there are other configurations you'd suggest. Let me know if you need any more information.

[MrAngles]

Nothing? Well I think I've pretty much settled on extending the room back, using two rows of seating, with the back row shoved back up against the support pole, integrating the support pole into some kind of bar-style cabinet/counter situation right behind the couch, and using a nine and a half-foot wide scope screen, which seems to be the best use of the space, given the seating distance.

Now it's a matter of figuring out the best soundproofing method for the walls and ceiling.