Popular cinema chain Alamo Drafthouse has had to close six of its theaters. Five of these locations are in the company’s home state of Texas, with the sixth shuttered venue in Minnesota. These closures are due to bankruptcy by the franchised location’s owners, not the company itself declaring bankruptcy.
Locations Affected
The five closed Texas locations are Richardson, Las Colinas, Lake Highlands, Dallas, and Denton. The Minnesota venue is located in Woodbury. These six theaters are operated by Two is One, One is None, LLC, which is filing for Chapter 7.
Unfortunately, these closures happened so quickly that many staff members received little to no notice. A message to staff has gone viral on social media and cites the loss of “over $1 million” in 2023 as the reason for this decision.
Summer Box Office Outlook
On top of that, this summer’s box office numbers are already shaping up to be particularly drab. Major projects like “The Fall Guy” and “Furiosa” are already struggling to bring in audiences. This is partially Hollywood still reeling from the effects of COVID-19 production shutdowns. Coupled with aftershocks from the 2023 WGA and SAG strikes.
Two is One, One is None, LLC claims it “infused more than $3.5 million dollars in new capital, into payroll and operations in 2023” and tried to cut costs. “Industry-wide economic performance was severely down in the fourth quarter of 2023 and in the first quarter of 2024,” reads the press release about the bankruptcy. “In fact, the first quarter of 2024 has been the worst performing quarter in movie-going history.”
A spokesperson for Alamo Drafthouse said that the company is “heartbroken for the franchisee’s teammates and the local film communities,” in a statement. “We are working as quickly as possible to get Alamo Drafthouse Cinema back up and running in these cities. All other Alamo Drafthouse locations are operating as normal, with continued expansion plans across the country.”
In total, Alamo Drafthouse now has 35 locations nationwide, 15 of those are franchised, leaving 20 that are corporate-owned. While Alamo Drafthouse’s corporate ownership filed for bankruptcy in March 2021, it emerged from it by June of the same year.
We’ll keep you posted on updates about this situation as they develop.
