RELATED: This Beloved Movie Theater Chain Just Filed for Bankruptcy. Beloved movie chain Alamo Drafthouse filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 3, 2021, citing financial trouble related to the COVID-19 pandemic.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb The chain, which operated 41 theaters at the time, subsequently sold the bulk of its assets to Altamont Capital and Fortress Investment Group as a means of keeping most of its individual locations afloat. The movie theater now hopes to open new locations across the country in the near future. For the latest bankruptcy news delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter. In March, Alamo Drafthouse announced that its locations in Kansas City, Missouri; New Braunfels, Texas; and the famed Alamo Drafthouse Ritz in Austin, Texas, would close permanently. “It is difficult to imagine Alamo Drafthouse without The Ritz. For the past twelve and a half years, The Ritz represented what Alamo Drafthouse theaters could be,” the chain said in a statement about the Austin theater’s closure. “Post-COVID, we’ll make certain that all of our signature series will find a new home at another Austin Alamo Drafthouse Cinema and that the spirit and personality of The Ritz will continue.” Having emerged from the bankruptcy process, Alamo Drafthouse now plans to open five new locations throughout the U.S. The new theaters will open in New York City’s Manhattan and Staten Island boroughs; St. Louis, Missouri; Arlington, Virginia; and Washington, D.C. “We’re so thrilled to be reopening theaters across the country and welcoming back audiences for an unparalleled moviegoing experience with films we’ve been eagerly awaiting for over a year now,” said Alamo Drafthouse CEO Shelli Taylor in a statement (via The Hollywood Reporter). On March 16, 2020, Alamo Drafthouse announced that all of its theaters would be closing, at least temporarily. However, as of June 2021, 13 of the chain’s theaters—in Austin, Corpus Christi, El Paso, San Antonio, and Houston, Texas; Brooklyn, New York; Charlottesville, Ashburn, Woodbridge, and Winchester, Virginia; Denver, Colorado; Phoenix, Arizona; Raleigh, North Carolina; Los Angeles, California; and Springfield, Missouri—had reopened. The chain has also announced plans to reopen additional locations in San Antonio and Denver, as well as a location in Omaha, Nebraska, on June 18. An additional six locations—Yonkers, New York; Woodbury, Minnesota; and locations in Dallas/Fort Worth, Laredo, Lubbock, and Austin, Texas—will reopen in July. RELATED: This Beloved Store Is Closing 65 Locations.
