When the news came down last Wednesday that Alamo Drafthouse — the Texas-based dine-in-theater chain beloved by cineasts for its boisterous screenings and boozy milkshakes — was filing for bankruptcy and permanently closing several locations, Movie Twitter lit up with undisguised paroxysms of grief.
“We’re extremely confident that by the end of 2021, the cinema industry — and our theaters specifically — will be thriving,” Alamo’s founder, Tim League, said in a statement.
But with three-quarters of the chain’s locations still on indefinite pandemic-mandated hiatus, such reassurances have done little to stanch the anguish among the Drafthouse faithful that their favorite mom-and-pop chain, which began as a single-screen repertory theater before growing into a nationwide 40-something-location franchise renowned for its “Rowdy” screenings, movie-themed cocktails, and costumed crowds (essentially for bringing premium feels to a night at the movies), would not be junked for financial parts and dismantled.
Source: https://www.vulture.com/2021/03/alamo-drafthouse-bankruptcy-is-actually-a-good-thing.html