Austin-based Alamo Drafthouse Cinema announce that all of its Dallas-Fort Worth cinemas will be reopened by the end of August, along with another cinema in Minnesota.
Alamo Drafthouse said it plans to reopen all of the theaters it acquired after their closure as part of a franchisee’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing (including DFW’s Cedars, Lake Highlands, Las Colinas, Richardson, and Denton locations and the Woodbury location in Minnesota’s Twin Cities).
The company said that tickets for upcoming shows will go on sale on a theater-by-theater basis shortly before each reopening date.
Here are the opening dates for each theater:
- Alamo Drafthouse Richardson: Aug. 9
- Alamo Drafthouse Lake Highlands: Aug. 13
- Alamo Drafthouse Cedars: Aug. 16
- Alamo Drafthouse Denton: Aug. 20
- Alamo Drafthouse Las Colinas: Aug. 23
- Alamo Drafthouse Woodbury, Minn.: Aug. 27
Alamo Drafthouse said it plans a number of improvements and upgrades to several of the venues.
Current plans include state-of-the-art 4K laser projectors and Dolby Atmos sound in a new “The Big Show” auditorium—Alamo Drafthouse’s premium large format experience—at the Richardson location by Labor Day.
In Las Colinas, the company will be adding premium recliner seats and 4K laser projectors in time for the spring 2025 movies.
The news follows a string of big headlines about the company in June. The biggest of all: Sony Pictures Entertainment rocked Hollywood by announcing it had acquired Alamo Drafthouse Cinema and its 35 locations in 25 metro areas, as well as its much-loved Fantastic Fest film festival.
Hiring back past employees
Alamo Drafthouse said that before the theaters reopen, it will host a hiring fair for past employees on July 23, at the Lake Highlands and Woodbury locations, both to make them whole for lost wages that they were owed before the closure and to give them first access to interviews for open positions.
The company said that those who are rehired will receive a more robust benefits plan with immediate eligibility, including access to daily pay, substantial 401k match, paid medical leave, accrued PTO, and free mental health services.
“Our number-one goal throughout this difficult period has been to do right by the former teammates and get back to providing the exceptional cinema experience our guests deserve,” Alamo Drafthouse CEO Michael Kustermann said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to say that that goal is in sight and that we’ll have teammates and guests back in those theaters very soon.”
Soft opening celebration
Each location will host a soft opening celebration for the first two weeks after opening. The company said that guests will get $5 tickets for all shows and 25% off select food and beverage items.
Alamo Drafthouse said the programming for the soft opening includes some of the most anticipated films of the summer, including Deadpool & Wolverine, It Ends With Us, Alien: Romulus, and Blink Twice.
Customers who purchased tickets before the shutdown will receive free ticket rainchecks via email once tickets go on sale. Additionally, previously purchased merchandise for Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine will be distributed to guests during the soft opening period.
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema was founded in 1997 as a single-screen mom-and-pop repertory theater in Austin.
Twenty-seven years later, with 41 locations and counting, Alamo Drafthouse has been called “the best theater in America” by Entertainment Weekly and “the best theater in the world” by Wired.
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