Sony Pictures announced Wednesday that it has purchased the Alamo Drafthouse theater chain for an undisclosed amount, more than three years after Alamo filed for bankruptcy at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, generating theater revenue and delaying dozens of major films.
March 2020 The COVID-19 pandemic closed theaters around the world, forcing Alamo to close the maximum of its 41 locations at the time, furlough approximately 80% of its theater employees, and create a $2 million emergency fund for furloughed members.
April 2020 Alamo founder Tim League will step down as the network’s CEO and become executive chairman and will be replaced by former Disney executive Shelli Taylor.
July 2020 More than 80 Alamo workers are laid off, including local projectionists, event directors or theater directors, according to IndieWire.
March 2021 Alamo announces plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy because it defaults on about $105 million in debt, according to Variety, allowing it to secure rental concessions and get rid of the worst-performing locations.
May 2021The movie theater chain emerges from bankruptcy with Altamont Capital, Fortress Investment Group, and League as new owners.
July 2023Alamo’s former president, Michael Kustermann, replaces Taylor as CEO, around the same time the network announces it’s surpassing its 2019 sales amid a flood of moviegoers heading to videos to watch “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” the former of which has become the 2023 one. The highest-grossing film in the world.
March 2024: Alamo is exploring the sale of the company and is communicating with several Hollywood studios about an acquisition, Variety reported.
June 2024 Sony Pictures buys Alamo, the first time in 75 years that a major studio has owned a movie chain, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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More than 10 million. That’s the number of moviegoers Alamo attracts each year, making it the seventh-largest movie theater chain in North America.
Alamo has been in business for about 30 years and is known for its on-site dining service and extensive programming. The company will retain its headquarters in Austin, Texas, after its acquisition through Sony. The sale is an exclusive example of a studio. owned by the cinema. Paramount’s consent decrees, which prohibited film distributors from owning exhibition corporations such as Alamo or AMC, were repealed in 2020. Sony is the first major studio to buy a display since the executive order was repealed. Streaming giant Netflix has done something similar, until now. not on the same scale, buying New York’s Paris Theatre and Los Angeles’ Egyptian Theatre in 2019 and 2020, respectively.
Sony Pictures acquires Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in landmark deal that allows studios to get back into theatrical play (The Hollywood Reporter)
Sony Pictures buys Alamo Drafthouse (variety)
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