Alamo Drafthouse Will Reopen 6 Recently-Closed Theaters Following Sony Acquisition
Alamo Drafthouse Will Reopen 6 Recently-Closed Theaters Following Sony Acquisition
After 6 different Alamo Drafthouse locations closed due to the franchise company responsible for them declared bankruptcy, all those theaters are reopening now under the ownership of the main Alamo Drafthouse brand.
The six theaters, including one in Minnesota and the other five all in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, closed immediately at the start of June when franchisee Two Is One, One Is None, LLC, declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy, forcing 600 employees to lose their jobs. Now weeks later, Alamo is buying back those locations and plans to reopen each of them in rapid succession.
Not coincidentally, Sony Pictures Entertainment in a landmark move bought Alamo Drafthouse and had been looking to expand, and clearly the company's new ownership allowed for some greater financial flexibility to do just that and buy back up the shuttered theaters.
"We were heartbroken to hear about the franchisee's decision to close their locations in Dallas-Fort Worth and Woodbury, MN, but we immediately got to work to acquire these as Alamo Drafthouse-owned locations," said Alamo Drafthouse CEO Michael Kustermann. "We're so excited to reestablish Alamo Drafthouse Cinema for our teammates and local film communities in these great cities during an incredibly successful summer of moviegoing."
Alamo will also offer those fired the first crack at interviews for open positions, and those who are rehired will get a more robust benefits plan with immediate eligibility, including access to daily pay, substantial 401k match, paid medical leave, accrued PTO, and free mental health services.
Alamo Drafthouse will host a soft opening during the first week of each location's reopening with promotions and discounts to be announced. Any patrons who had pre-purchased tickets to movies opening this month and missed out will now get free ticket vouchers, and those who already bought merch like a "Deadpool and Wolverine" pint glass or "Inside Out 2" lunchbox will now get these items upon reopening.
The Sony acquisition of Alamo came as a major shock around the industry, with a film studio now directly owning a small but major theater chain in America. The move had its precedent even prior to the Paramount Decrees being rescinded, but theater ownership from studios has previously been done on a very small scale. Sony on the other hand has opened the operation of Alamo within a new division at SPE.
What Sony intends to do with Alamo is still anyone's guess, with the possibility that some of Sony's anime movies from Crunchyroll could get more play there. More likely though, IndieWire recently posited that it could be a lab to test out innovative theater ideas.
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