Sony Pictures Entertainment is acquiring Alamo Drafthouse Cinema and will manage its 35 locations, a rare example of a traditional Hollywood studio’s owning a theater chain.
The deal, announced Wednesday, followed the Justice Department’s decision in 2020 to rescind the so-called Paramount consent decrees — movie distribution rules dating to 1949 that forced the largest Hollywood studios to sell off their theater holdings.
Those rules were intended to prevent studios from controlling the film business, from creation to exhibition.
In recent years, Netflix, the leading streaming company, has bought theaters to show films.
Alamo, the seventh-largest theater chain in North America, operates theaters in 25 metro areas across the United States and has invested in distinctive programming and food offerings in an attempt to lure in moviegoers away from major multiplexes.
Persons:
Department’s, Makan Delrahim, ”
Organizations:
Sony Pictures Entertainment, Alamo, Hollywood, Netflix
Locations:
North America, United States