Inside of the Alamo Warehouse Cinema.
Alamo Drawing Room
For the primary time in 75 years, a significant Hollywood studio has a sequence of film theaters.
Sony Photos The corporate introduced on Wednesday that it has acquired Alamo Drafthouse, the seventh-largest movie show chain in North America. The theater firm was acquired from house owners Altamont Capital Companions, Fortress Funding Group and founder Tim League.
From 1948 to 2020, movie distributors have been prohibited from proudly owning exhibition firms below the so-called Paramount Consent Decree. Whereas studios are allowed to personal particular person theater websites—for instance, Disney owns the El Capitan Theater and Netflix owns the Egyptian Theater and the Paris Theater in New York—the Justice Division just isn’t allowed to personal movie show chains.
These decrees have been repealed in 2020.
Alamo Drafthouse CEO Michael Kustermann will proceed to run the dine-in theater chain and report back to Ravi Ahuja, president and CEO of the newly fashioned Sony Photos Expertise unit.
The corporate’s 35 film theaters will proceed to be operated by Alamo Drafthouse, which can stay headquartered in Austin, Texas.
“We sit up for constructing on the innovation that has made Alamo Drafthouse a hit, and naturally we are going to proceed to welcome content material from all studios and publishers,” Ahuja stated in a press release.
The acquisition comes after Alamo Drafthouse filed for Chapter 11 chapter safety in 2021 attributable to disruptions brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. It was rescued by a non-public fairness agency. Nevertheless, simply final week, 5 North Texas places closed after one franchisee filed for chapter.
“We’re excited to make historical past with Sony Photos Leisure and discover the suitable dwelling and companion for the Alamo Drawing Room Cinema,” stated Kusterman. “We have been created by film lovers for film lovers. We all know how essential that is to Sony, and that is additional proof of their dedication to the theatrical expertise. Collectively, we are going to proceed to innovate and ship for our teammates and moviegoers alike.” Thrilling new alternatives come your manner.
