Sony Pictures Entertainment is entering the movie theater business.
The studio behind recent films like “Bad Boys 2” and “Garfield the Movie” has acquired the distinctive movie theater chain Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas, the companies announced Wednesday.
The deal also includes genre film festival Fantastic Fest.
Sony said it will continue to welcome content from all studios and distributors at its Dining Theatres.
Alamo Drafthouse was founded in 1997 as a single-screen, family-owned repertory theater in Austin, Texas, and has grown to 35 locations across North America.
It stood out in the movie theater industry with its drinks, dine-in service and cool atmosphere that moviegoers loved.
“We are thrilled to join forces with Sony Pictures Entertainment to expand our vision of being the greatest movie theater ever and ever will be in ways we’ve only ever dreamed of,” Alamo Drafthouse founder Tim League said in a statement. “They have a deep respect and understanding of the power of film to drive growth and create lasting cultural impact, which aligns perfectly with the ethos we stand for at Alamo Drafthouse.”
For Sony, the Drafthouse acquisition also ties into the company’s experiential projects, including its Wheel of Fortune Live! travel tours and Chicago’s Wonderverse space.
Sony Pictures Entertainment president and chief operating officer Ravi Ahuja also noted that the studio’s Crunchyroll movies specifically align with the interests of Drafthouse fans.
Alamo Drafthouse has seen its ups and downs over the years: In March 2021, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, closing several locations and canceling plans to open new ones.
Alamo emerged from bankruptcy under the ownership of League, Altamont Capital Partners and Fortress Investment Group in late May 2021. Former Caveman Foods executive Michael Kusterman was named CEO of Alamo.
He will remain in his role and lead the newly formed Sony Pictures Experience division, reporting to Ahuja, the statement said.
Last year, in the wake of Babenheimer’s unrest, employees at Alamo Drafthouse locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn voted to unionize.
Similar efforts have been tried in San Francisco and Austin but have encountered resistance from their leadership.
For many years, Hollywood studios were unable to operate movie theaters or control which films were shown on their screens because of a landmark 1948 Supreme Court antitrust decision that made illegal practices like “block booking,” in which movie studios asked theaters to book movies in bulk.
Each of the major studios entered into a consent decree with the Department of Justice (known as the Paramount Consent Decree) which required the major studios that owned movie theaters at the time to either sell their distribution businesses or their theaters.
Conflict between the business practices of Hollywood film studios and the federal government dates back to the early 1920s over concerns about vertical integration and the monopolization of film production and distribution.
In the 1930s and 1940s, most first-run cinemas had only one screen.
Film distribution and exhibition has undergone significant changes since the days of the Paramount Consent Decree, including the proliferation of multiplex cinemas showing films from various exhibitors throughout the day, and the emergence of television, home video, and streaming.
With the repeal of the Supreme Consent Decree in 2020, the separation requirement has officially been abolished.
For example, Netflix currently owns several movie theaters in New York and Los Angeles, and the Walt Disney Company, which was not part of the “Big 8” in the 1940s, owns and operates El Capitan in Los Angeles.
Cinema chains have also been branching out in recent times, with artists like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé partnering directly with AMC Theatres to distribute concert films.
