I really hope this is a good thing. I don’t want to see theaters die, but I really hope Sony doesn’t interfere with the things that make Alamo Drafthouse great… I really hope they can rectify the closure of all the DFW locations as well.
Hey what the fuck? Is the FTC not going to step in on this? This is a movie producer acquiring a movie theater chain, literally a monopolization of the market. Are we going to let Disney buy AMC next?
That’s not what monopoly means? The merger should absolutely be scrutinized for the potential anti-competitive ramifications, but vertical integration isn’t immediately not allowed.
Typically true, but this situation used to be an exception.
Might not be the best source but there are tons to choose from. Basically, for 70+ years studios could not own theaters. Now they can.
It’s interesting how we allow many industries who produce products sell directly to consumers and in others we don’t. In any event there’s a long history of studios operating theatres, Warner Brothers did it in the 30’s.
Yeah surprised this is allowed.
I think it should be allowed actually—but the fact that it is settled case law is surprising. Maybe because they are Japanese?
Great, so instead of fixing the issue of studios owning their own streaming platforms and locking content behind their own sites, now we have the movie theater industry starting down the same path.
Rag on the music industry (and they do suck), but at least I don’t need to have a subscription to Sony Music+ and Atlantic Records+ to listen to their music libraries.
More like returning. This was the old model of Hollywood, where studios owned pretty much every layer of the process.
Having lived in Austin and seen movies at the original handful of Drafthouse theaters for decades now, every time the brand has expanded, quality has dropped. I’m not expecting this change to be any different.
Being from San Antonio and watching the expansion, I’m afraid Drafthouse has made me agree with someone from Austin.
Your breakfast taco game is still weak, though. Just like our weak-ass barbecue.
Yeah well up here in Dallas we’re… wait what do we have cool up here again? Uhhhhh hmmmm…
Right after one of their franchisees shut down…
Yeah, this was devastating to me as I am in DFW area and I literally haven’t seen a movie in another theater chain in almost a decade.
I hope this does not ruin the recent efforts to unionize.
