Alamo Drafthouse up for sale

[thatguy]

I've only been a few times, but I liked them...

https://gizmodo.com/alamo-drafthouse-is-...p-for-sale-1851372929

Alamo Drafthouse Is Reportedly Up For Sale
The popular cinema destination is currently looking for a buyer. Pray that private equity doesn't hear about it.

By
Lucas Ropek

[/url][url=https://gizmodo.com/alamo-drafthouse-is-reportedly-up-for-sale-1851372929]

Photo: AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC (Getty Images)

Alamo Drafthouse, one of the only corporate chains in America that is actually cool, is up for sale. Deadline reports that the cinema circuit, which was founded by entrepreneur Tim League in Austin, Texas, in 1997, is looking for a buyer, although it’s not clear what the asking price is. Let us pray that private equity vultures stay the hell away from it. 

The chain, which is hugely popular among cinephiles and is known for its special guest appearances, as well as for serving food and drinks to customers, has had some ups and downs over the past two decades but has remained a remarkably strong brand in an industry that is dominated by the likes of Regal and Cinemark. The chain filed for bankruptcy in March of 2021, at the height of the pandemic, when movie-going numbers were plummeting. That downturn did not last long, however. The company rallied, emerging from bankruptcy and added five new locations to its roster. 

Deadline reports that, over the past two years, Alamo Drafthouse’s box office numbers have seen a better increase than the industry average. All told, the chain brought in $134 million at the box office last year. The news that the business is looking for a buyer comes only about a week before CinemaCon, a large cinema conference in Las Vegas. 

Gizmodo reached out to Alamo Drafthouse for more information and will update this story when it responds.

--tg

[Drunk Monk]

Just got invited to an event at Alamo Drafthouse in SF. Now I'm thinking I should really go before it bellys up.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Just got invited to an event at Alamo Drafthouse in SF. Now I'm thinking I should really go before it bellys up.

Have you ever been? It’s really nice.

[Drunk Monk]

I've been in the lobby, remember?

I feel this should have been a Sober Monk post, but now that he's sober, I guess he just doesn't care about us.

This looks messed up and I am ready for it.

Well that didn't work out at all. Or did it?

I got invited to this screener for yesterday. There was an earlier showing on Tuesday afternoon at Stonestown. This one was at Alamo Drafthouse and Tara was not working so we talked about going together, but then she got behind in some stuff and had to drop out, so for a few days I was searching for a new +1. It was astonishingly hard. Two of my usuals had to go to a funeral. Another just caught a cold. Another still hasn't answered and I'm a bit worried and will have to follow up. I gave up and went by myself. 

I got to the Mission early and hit up a farmer's market for dinner, plus got some freeze dried chicken hearts for Yuki. I was just killing time. I went in the theater thinking I was still early and admired the place - a beautifully restored vintage theater decorated with old Kung Fu posters in Spanish. Then I checked my email to discover that the screener had been moved up an hour. So I missed it. Damn it. 

The theater was apologetic and gave me some raincheck passes for next week. I replied to the rep and she was also apologetic and offered two more potential screeners - mountain view on Saturday, or Castro on Sunday with a Q&A with the talent. Wait...what? The talent?

That was so mercnret.

[thatguy]

https://gizmodo.com/sony-pictures-buys-b...1851536423

Sony Pictures Buys Beloved Theater Chain Alamo Drafthouse
One of the best theater chains in the U.S. has a new owner.

By
Oscar Gonzalez

Photo: Alamo Drafthouse

Alamo Drafthouse is a destination for moviegoers, but as the theater chain has struggled to stay afloat in this era of streaming, it needed someone to come in and save the day. The would-be savior is Sony Pictures, which has acquired Alamo Drafthouse for an undisclosed amount, first reported by Variety on Wednesday. The theater chain will keep its headquarters in Austin, Texas, but it will be under a new division at Sony Pictures called Sony Pictures Experiences.

While it might not be the most ideal buyer of the popular theater chain, the alternative could have been a private equity firm that would chop up the company’s assets or institute some terrible practices (like no longer throwing out those who talk and text during a movie).

“We are beyond thrilled to join forces with Sony Pictures Entertainment to expand our company vision to be the best damn cinema that has ever, or will ever, exist now in ways we could only ever dream of,” said Tim League, founder of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, in a press release. “They have a deep respect and understanding of cinema’s ability to both drive growth and create lasting cultural impact which aligns perfectly with everything Alamo Drafthouse stands for.”

Founded in 1997, Alamo Drafthouse has been a haven for cinephiles. Each location has food and drinks service during a film and has a firm “no talk, no text” rule. Along with playing the biggest movies of the year, each location also features special showings of movies from the past.

Alamo Drafthouse and other movie theater chains are having a rough 2024. Last week, five Drafthouse theaters in North Texas were shuttered after the franchise owner of those locations filed for bankruptcy.

--tg

[thatguy]

This is a big deal. Alamo is militant anti-phone during screenings.

https://gizmodo.com/alamo-drafthouse-mov...2000708311

Alamo Drafthouse Moves to Mobile Food Ordering in the Movie Theater

The small screen meets the big screen.
AJ Dellinger
Published January 9, 2026

Since its inception, Alamo Drafthouse theaters have tried to curate an immersive cinematic experience, including a strict ban on phone usage during movies. That is coming to an end. According to a report from Variety, the theater chain that has been a favorite of cinephiles is going to ditch its pen-and-paper food ordering system in favor of allowing people to place orders on their phones.

“Alamo Drafthouse’s new approach aims to improve efficiency while continuing to protect what makes the brand special: an elevated, immersive, and a more distraction-free way to enjoy movies,” the company said in a press release. The company also claimed that it won’t be laying off any of its service staff or reducing hours or wages, per Variety.

The change is planned to go into effect in February across the chain’s 44 locations, though some have already been experimenting with the digital ordering experience. And while placing orders via phone is now allowed, the company won’t be getting rid of its no talking or texting policy—though one would imagine the latter will become much harder to enforce with the invitation for hungry folks to use phones during a screening.

The move is one of the first major changes in Alamo’s operation since Sony took over the company in 2024, and can probably be read as an attempt to appeal to a more general audience. Perhaps the other most notable action under Sony ownership was widespread layoffs that led to unionized employees striking and filing unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board. The unions managed to get some staff rehired and secured new agreements for workers.

Alamo has a reputation as a cinephile theater thanks to its attempts to restrict in-theater distractions and a policy that prohibits late arrivals—though enforcement of that has also apparently relaxed a bit in recent years, if social media reports are to be believed. Alamo used to actively curate its strict reputation, but that seems to be slipping.

Speaking of social media, folks online are not exactly thrilled by the shift to mobile ordering. People who go to Alamo specifically for the no-talking, no-texting approach feel like the sanctity of the experience has been violated. It’s not clear whether the news of limited phone usage will reach more casual audiences or pierce Alamo’s reputation as a distraction-free cinema, which kind of risks making this a worst-of-all-worlds situation.

It’s possible—maybe even probable—that this change won’t fundamentally ruin the theater-going experience. Other theaters, like Alamo knock-off Flix Brewhouse, use mobile ordering during films, though they also have much more of a casual movie-going vibe. But it does fundamentally change the pitch of Alamo to its primary audience. It just seems like a complete misread of what their core demographic wants at the cinema.

--tg