The Alamo Drafthouse chain of movie theaters has a new owner: Sony Pictures. The movie studio announced the purchase on Wednesday, with a press release detailing the deal, as well as the planned future for the chain’s existing theaters.
According to Sony’s press release, Drafthouse’s current CEO, Michael Kustermann, will remain in that position and be made head of a new division, Sony Pictures Experiences, while reporting to the president and COO of Sony Picture Entertainment, Ravi Ahuja. The theater will continue to operate all of its current 35 theaters across the United States. Alamo Drafthouse will also continue to run Fantastic Fest, its annual film festival based in Austin, Texas.
It’s no surprise that most of the announcements about the acquisition so far focus on how little Sony plans to change about the beloved theater chain, at least so far. The idea of a movie studio owning a chain of theaters still raises uneasy questions for a lot of theater-goers. The practice was illegal until 2020, when the Paramount Decrees were repealed. The decrees, put in place in 1948, were originally part of a set of antitrust rules designed to end the vertical integration of the movie business, where studios controlled every aspect of a film’s life cycle, from production to theatrical distribution, which was often limited to studio-owned theaters.
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Even though the legal change happened four years ago, few production studios have taken advantage of the chance to purchase theaters of their own. Netflix and Disney have both put their names on historic theaters, keeping them open and screening a steady mix of their own films, as well as competitors’ projects. But Sony is the first to make a play for a larger theater chain.
This latest move from Sony also seems to tie into its 2021 purchase of Crunchyroll, the United States’ largest anime-focused streaming site. Sony has helped Crunchyroll become a major player in the theatrical exhibition space, especially for anime movies, like this year’s Haikyuu!!: The Dumpster Battle. Increasing the box office impact of these anime movies has been a major goal of Sony’s in recent years, and was the focus of the company’s studio presentation at this year’s CinemaCon.
According to a quote from Ahuja in Sony’s press release, the company sees the Alamo Drafthouse’s existing fans as pairing well with Crunchyroll’s offerings, suggesting that anime will play a large role in the theatrical chain’s future. Ahuja also notes that the kind of programming fans already enjoy at Alamo Drafthouses will continue, including movies from studios other than Sony.
“Alamo Drafthouse’s differentiated movie-going experience, admired brand and devoted community fit well with this vision. Our Crunchyroll business also aligns well with their audience’s interests. We look forward to building upon the innovations that have made Alamo Drafthouse successful and will, of course, continue to welcome content from all studios and distributors.”