Austin-based Alamo Drafthouse Cinema chain has been acquired by Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Alamo will continue to operate all 35 of the chain’s cinemas across the country, Sony announced on Wednesday. Alamo CEO Michael Kustermann will stay with the company and also head the newly created Sony Pictures Experiences division.
Sony’s acquisition of Alamo comes nearly a week after the company closed its five theaters in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
The theater closures are due to the Chapter 7 bankruptcy of Two is One, One is None, LLC, a franchisee of Alamo, which operated the five theaters in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area and one in Woodbury, Minnesota, which also closed.
Following the acquisition, Sony is working to reopen the Alamo theaters in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, a company insider told the Star-Telegram. However, the closures in North Texas will not impact ongoing operations and Sony’s growth plans remain unchanged.
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Alamo is headquartered in Austin and, according to Sony, will remain in the city.
Austin-based and Alamo-owned genre film festival Fantastic Fest is also part of the Sony acquisition.
“We are thrilled to partner with Sony Pictures Entertainment to expand our company vision and become the best movie theater that has ever been or will be in ways we could only dream of,” Alamo founder Tim League said in a press release. “They have a deep respect and understanding of the ability of movie theater to both drive growth and create lasting cultural impact, which aligns perfectly with everything Alamo Drafthouse stands for.”
Alamo Drafthouse opened its first theater in Austin in 1997 and has since expanded to over a dozen states.
Despite the closure of the Dallas-Fort Worth locations, Alamo still has a strong presence in the Lone Star State and has offices in Austin, Corpus Christi, El Paso, Houston, Laredo, Lubbock and San Antonio.
