Landmark Theatres: Flagship Pico movie theaters are closing

Specialty cinema chain Landmark Theatres is shutting down its flagship Westside locale on Pico Boulevard right after 15 several years, in the most current major blow to Los Angeles cinephiles.

The L.A.-dependent exhibitor claimed Wednesday that the theater, frequented by motion picture lovers and identified for web hosting Q&A screenings with major-tier filmmakers, will shut when its lease expires at the end of May perhaps. The announcement comes after the firm unsuccessful to reach conditions with its landlord, Landmark President Kevin Holloway reported in a statement.

For the record:

8:29 a.m. Might 12, 2022An before variation of this write-up misspelled “Downton Abbey.”

“For months, we’ve labored to prolong our tenancy of The Landmark Pico but have been unable arrive at terms,” Holloway stated. “We ship our deepest appreciation to the Pico team, company, and the filmmaking group for their aid about the decades. We’re discovering opportunities to expand our Los Angeles footprint, which we hope to be ready to share much more on quickly.”

Found in the Westside Pavilion, the Landmark Pico spot, usually referred to only as the Landmark, prolonged served as a location for Westside arthouse movie buffs. If a new film played in one theater in L.A., probabilities have been it played at the Landmark.

L.A.’s movie community has been strike tough with substantial-profile theater closures.

ArcLight Cinemas and Pacific Theatres announced in April 2021 that its areas, like the famed ArcLight Hollywood theater and hooked up Cinerama Dome, would not reopen. The announcement sparked an emotional outpouring from famous administrators and a community campaign to have the Dome revived.

Though various previous ArcLight and Pacific areas reopened underneath other operators, the Hollywood theater and the Dome remain dim. Rumors distribute in late 2021 that the Dome and adjacent theater would reopen under a diverse title as before long as this year, but 2023 is extra practical, in accordance to sources.

The Vista Theatre in Los Feliz has been shuttered considering the fact that March 2020, and though it was acquired by “Pulp Fiction” director Quentin Tarantino, a reopening date has not been declared.

Landmark will continue on to run its remaining Los Angeles areas: the Nuart Theatre, which will before long bear renovations, and the a short while ago refurbished Landmark Westwood, the firm claimed. Landmark Theatres has 35 spots with 195 screens in metropolitan areas which include San Diego, San Francisco, New York and Dallas.

The business is negotiating more leases, Landmark reported.

Specialty cinemas like Landmark, which enjoy a blend of Hollywood blockbusters and arthouse fare, have struggled to recover from pandemic closures. In Los Angeles, film theaters had been shut for a yr, putting a strain on the financials for beleaguered multiplex operators.

More mature patrons who make up the bulk of ticket consumers for character-pushed indie films have been the slowest to return, even as Hollywood enjoys the spoils of blockbusters such as “The Batman” and “Doctor Bizarre in the Multiverse of Insanity.”

A24’s quirky multiverse motion-comedy “Everything Just about everywhere All at Once” has provided a raise to specialty cinemas, grossing more than $40 million in domestic box workplace income. Aim Features’ “Downton Abbey” sequel also could attract more mature crowds who have not but trekked back to auditoriums.

But more compact cinema chains have struggled to endure in part simply because of opposition. In Los Angeles, even the premier multinational chains like AMC Theatres and Regal participate in the sorts of lesser movies that are ordinarily the bread and butter of Landmark and fellow Los Angeles theater chain Laemmle.

Landmark Theatres was obtained in 2018 by Cohen Media Group, the movie creation and distribution business of New York serious estate billionaire Charles S. Cohen.

The chain was formerly owned by Dallas Mavericks proprietor Mark Cuban and his longtime organization associate, Todd Wagner. They acquired the chain in 2003 from Los Angeles-based asset manager Oaktree Cash, which experienced taken the exhibitor out of personal bankruptcy.