“Theaters are coming back.”
That’s what Matthew McConaughey affirmed on Sunday’s Oscars telecast while standing in front of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema’s iconic South Lamar location in Austin. Beginning with a May relaunch of their Brooklyn and Los Angeles locations, at least fifteen of the cinema-eatery’s theaters will be back online this summer. That will (re)double the circuit’s footprint to over thirty theaters across the country, and bring the Dallas, Omaha, San Francisco, Lubbock, Laredo, and Yonkers areas back into the lineup.
Tickets will be on sale soon at drafthouse.com/nyc for shows at Alamo Drafthouse Brooklyn beginning Friday, May 7th. Both Alamo Drafthouse Los Angeles and Austin’s Mueller location are both scheduled to reopen Friday, May 28th, with tickets on sale beginning May 17th.
“This past weekend’s box office wasn’t just the biggest for our theaters during the COVID era – in fact, it would have been pretty healthy in ‘the old days’ era,” says Shelli Taylor, Alamo Drafthouse CEO. “It’s so gratifying to see audiences so enthusiastically embracing not just our theaters but our industry as a whole.”
Recent box office success of DEMON SLAYER, GODZILLA VS KONG, and MORTAL KOMBAT, and an increasingly exciting slate of upcoming first run films that includes A QUIET PLACE PART II, F9, and BLACK WIDOW will continue to propel Alamo Drafthouse beyond COVID. The company’s trademark approach to repertory programming has also been essential in offering diverse options for moviegoers. Alamo Drafthouse’s “Support Local Cinemas” series was introduced in March and included cast reunions for THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy hosted by Stephen Colbert and DAZED AND CONFUSED hosted by Jack Black. These pre-recorded conversations were produced by Alamo Drafthouse and shared worldwide with any theater that requested them – completely for free.
Refining the Alamo Drafthouse experience
Operating during the COVID era has been an immense challenge for all movie theaters – struggles that will continue even once the industry and the world has returned to a sense of ‘normalcy.’
“We’ve spent the last eight months refining what we think is the safest and most relaxing cinematic experience possible,” says Tim League, Alamo Drafthouse founder and Executive Chairman. “We are thrilled to finally be able to bring what we’ve learned to New York, Los Angeles, and many other theaters for what we hope is the home stretch, and a colossal season of big movies.”
After reopening last August, Alamo Drafthouse reinvented its entire operating model to create the safest possible indoor gathering place – safer even than supermarkets, bars, and restaurants. The endeavor required dramatically enhanced safety protocols, HVAC upgrades, and state-of-the-art technology upgrades. Many of Alamo Drafthouse’s COVID-era innovations, including pre-ordering food and beverages and Your Own Private Alamo personal theater bookings, will remain part of the company’s model going forward.
Alamo Drafthouse Brooklyn reopening May 7th
Tickets will be on sale soon at drafthouse.com/nyc for Alamo Drafthouse Brooklyn’s first week of shows. The company also plans a special bonus – the first 3,000 guests to attend will receive a free scratch-off ticket good for free food and fun surprises.
The theater’s reopening weekend programming includes a mix of exciting new films and the company’s quintessential repertory programming, leading off with MAMMA MIA! For Mother’s Day, and New York City’s first opportunity to see the LORD OF THE RINGS: FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING Cast Reunion hosted by Stephen Colbert. The theater will also show new releases like Guy Ritchie’s WRATH OF MAN, the new Sesame Street documentary STREET GANG, and the smash hits MORTAL KOMBAT and DEMON SLAYER.
Throughout May, Alamo Drafthouse Brooklyn’s programming will also spotlight several iconic Brooklyn or New York City films, starting off with Spike Lee’s DO THE RIGHT THING, Diana Ross-led THE WIZ, Martin Scorsese’s GOODFELLAS and THE WOLF OF WALL STREET, Walter Hill’s THE WARRIORS, and – as a nod to theater homebase City Point Brooklyn’s Ruth Bader Ginsburg statue – screenings of director Julie Cohen’s THE RBG.
Alamo Drafthouse Reopenings
A full list of planned reopenings through the month of July is below. Details on additional theaters – including brand new locations – will be announced later this year.
Tickets and additional details: drafthouse.com
Alamo Drafthouse – Safety Protocols: https://drafthouse.com/covid-safety
Your Own Private Alamo: https://drafthouse.com/theater-rental
Alamo On Demand: https://ondemand.drafthouse.com
Photo: Mitch Lazorko/Shutterstock
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