Landmark Theatres, which owns seven different movie theaters in Seattle, is up for sale.

Billionaire Mark Cuban has put his Landmark Theatres and Magnolia Pictures up for sale, saying entertainment companies are attracting “huge valuations.”

Cuban, 52, is “just testing the waters,” he said today in an e-mail in response to a question from Bloomberg News. “We won’t sell unless the offer is very, very compelling.”

It’s not surprising, I guess, that the big money is nervously eyeing the movie theater industry and thinking about getting out: As we saw on Slog earlier this month, movie attendance is down by a little more than 20% this year. As Northwest Film Forum pointed out on their blog earlier today, Landmark already sold the Neptune late last year, but they’re still a huge player in the Seattle film scene; they’re responsible for 26 movies showing in Seattle this week alone.

(Thanks to Slog tipper Brad.)

14 replies on “Landmark Theatres for Sale”

  1. including Hop (good movie)

    the Neptune deal may have been influenced by the work being done on the Sound Transit LINK light rail station adjacent to it

  2. Fuck. I hope they don’t get gobbled up by one of the big chains. Landmark is the only local chain that shows documentaries, independent, and foreign films. I would be really disappointed if that all went away.

  3. Were I a millionaire, I would buy the oldest, most classic theater. I’d then rent it out for a weekly show featuring various talking animals and monsters. I, of course, would join a friend as a grumpy curmudgeon in the balcony and leave the whole thing for my nephew Scooter to look after.

  6. I’m torn about this…on the one hand, I’d hate to see Landmark get bought out by like AMC or Loews or Regal. On the other hand, Mark Cuban is kind of a douche.

  8. I could be wrong, but I don’t see Landmark getting bought by one of the other big chains. My impression is that they now have a mix of newer, small multiplexes and old, smallish single-screen theatres. The multiplexes (at least the ones in hip, gentrifying areas) are well suited for their current core business, which I don’t see any of the biggies being interested in, while the old single screens are a real-estate bonanza (either sale if owned, or buyout of long-term lease).

    Almost 25 years ago in San Diego, Landmark was operating at least four small, widely scattered OLD single-screen theatres: the Guild (Hillcrest), the Cove (old La Jolla), the Park (North Park/Hillcrest border), and the Ken (Kensington). The Ken is the only one still in existence; the others are demolished and replaced with bland hideous low-rise architecture having, insultingly, a faux façade pasted on that resembles the original only in the vaguest way (this is what passes in San Diego for respecting history and the sense of place).

    In the meantime, Landmark took over a struggling multiplex in a struggling mall owned by the Mormons in suburban La Jolla, and built a brand-new small multiplex within a much larger restauranty structure in the gayborhood of Hillcrest. The Ken is in a nice little upscale village and has its charms, but the Hillcrest multi is the most enjoyable and comfortable. So they went from four screens to about 11 now, I think, and they’re in good locations for people who like art/foreign films.

    I can’t really argue with their business model–the old theatres, while I hate to see them go, are not usually the grand old movie palaces with unique themes that are still worth fighting to preserve.

    But Landmark may well sell to someone who dismantles the whole damn thing or runs it into the ground.

    Los Angeles Times
    June 28, 1988 | KEVIN BRASS
    Single-Screen Theaters Feature Art Films: Landmark’s Outlook Bright in Fading Business

    http://articles.latimes.com/1988-06-28/b…

  9. I’m right there with #2. I go out of my way, even to the dismay of my friends attracted to bigger screens and sound systems, to support Landmark. They have kept beautiful old theatres alive, serve unique treats along with the usuals, use real butter in their popcorn, have free water, have Mr Pibb(!), and most importantly support independent films including LGBT programming and obscure horror. I would be devastated if they fell under some other conglomerate. Hell they are the only ones even doing a midnight movie every weekend.

  10. @ 8

    Well, The Cove was gone, like, decades ago, and it’s been forever since I’ve been back to SD (and shall remain that way), but the Guild is gone? Man, that sucks, that building was like a three-dimensional Mondrian, great place for a movie, always felt stuffy in the right way (I remember the French Rollerball poster above the lobby entryway).

  11. I mean the Park was like a Mondrian. The Guild was good, but dilapidated even back in the day. Good to hear the Ken’s still going, LOTS of memories there. Remember the Unicorn, per chance?

  14. @levide, re: 11, 12, 13

    The Unicorn and the Fine Arts are both mentioned in the 1988 LATimes link @8, but neither is in the listings @13–probably because they were in buildings that bore another name when first opened as a theatre. I have no idea what part of S.D. the Unicorn was in, but the Fine Arts might have been in the Roxy Theatre on Cass St. in Pacific Beach; there’s a pretty new post office there now.

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