Alamo Drafthouse suffered a setback this week when it was announced that six of the exhibitor’s locations would be closing immediately due to the bankruptcy of one of its key franchises, Two Is One, One Is None. Five of the affected theatres are located in northern Texas, with a sixth location in Minnesota.
In their Chapter 7 filing, the franchisee cited pressures caused by a stubborn and persistent decline in attendance after the COVID-19 pandemic and a drop in the number of new movie releases caused by last year’s Hollywood labor strikes. In its bankruptcy filing, the company stated that the first quarter of 2024 was “the worst performing quarter in movie-going history.”
Two Is One, One is None also pointed to Alamo’s intransigence in helping them manage the crisis, saying that “attempts to seek relief from the franchisor and close the least competitive sites were unsuccessful.” Alamo’s management stated that they would be “working as quickly as possible to get [these] Alamo Drafthouse Cinema [locations] back up and running.”
This latest development is a new setback for the Alamo, coming soon after they took an unpopular stance to oppose unionization efforts at several of their locations. Alamo had developed a reputation for being well-run and innovative, expanding across the U.S. to 35 theatres which were a combination of company-owned and franchisee-operated locations. Recent reports also indicated the circuit may be up for sale if they can find an appropriate buyer.