Sony Pictures Entertainment has acquired the popular movie theater chain Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, the two companies announced on Wednesday.

Sony, which will oversee the theaters under a new Sony Pictures Experiences division, says it “will preserve Alamo Drafthouse’s distinctive movie-dining experience,”

Sony is acquiring Alamo Drafthouse from Altamont Capital Partners, Fortress Investment Group, and Alamo founder Tim League — a group that took ownership of Alamo after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2021.

  • Chozo@fedia.io
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    66
    ·
    5 months ago

    Buying a ticket for the next Marvel movie will now require a PSN account.

  • EleventhHour@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    31
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    5 months ago

    Sony, which will oversee the theaters under a new Sony Pictures Experiences division, says it “will preserve Alamo Drafthouse’s distinctive movie-dining experience,”

    bullshit. this was the only theater chain i could go to anymore because they’re the only ones that kick anyone out who uses a smartphone or makes any noise during the film. serving food and booze was just a bonus.

    i just have zero interest in paying all that money to see a film in a theater just to have it ruined by a bunch of assholes who can’t out their phone away and stfu

    • tyler@programming.dev
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      21
      ·
      5 months ago

      The same dude that was CEO of Alamo is now new head of the division that Sony is creating for this so we can only be hopeful…

    • THB@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      7
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      5 months ago

      Remaining hopeful, but the headline made me throw up in my mouth a little. Let’s see how it goes. ☹️

      • ditty@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        8
        ·
        5 months ago

        Sony Pictures Entertainment…says it “will preserve Alamo Drafthouse’s distinctive movie-dining experience"

        Their no talking policy is the most distinct part of their theater experience when compared to traditional theaters, so I am cautiously optimistic to read this

        • THB@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          7
          ·
          edit-2
          5 months ago

          I imagine not much will change at first, but I’m dreading the potential enshittification that could creep in, even if it’s months or years down the line.

          Unfortunately it seems the Alamo experience was not making enough money, so corporate will have to find some way to turn profits, and I doubt those plans will all be in line with the Alamo vibe. See HBO/Max/Discovery.

  • ImADifferentBird@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    10
    ·
    5 months ago

    On the plus side, maybe this means they will expand the chain. There’s a closed theater/bar/grill in downtown Wichita that would be absolutely perfect for them.

  • Legonatic@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    5
    ·
    5 months ago

    Considering the chain has been owned for a few years by private equity, I don’t know if it could have been any worse than that.