Landmark Theatres, the one-time leading circuit of art house theatres in the U.S., has suffered a dramatic fall from grace since its entrepreneur owner Mark Cuban sold it in 2019 to the Cohen Media Group. Landmark was hit hard by COVID, with the older audience for specialty movies slow to return to theatres.
More recently, other exhibitors such as Alamo Drafthouse have stepped in with venues that offer updated amenities such as luxury recliners and seat-side dine-in service to assume a leading position in this segment of the market.
Coming out of the pandemic, Landmark has closed dozens of locations across the country, with its remaining locations set to be sold in a foreclosure auction. Cohen Media Group was given a deadline of November 8th to settle its outstanding debts to avert the foreclosure sale.
There’s a lot at stake for Cohen Media Group and its eponymous leader Charles Cohen. Earlier this summer a New York Supreme Court judge ruled that Cohen was personally responsible for $187 million owed to Landmark’s leading lender Fortress Media Group.
In a filing with the court, Fortress argued that the likely combined value of all remaining Landmark locations added up to less than the $187 million owed to Fortress. The filing asked the judge to prevent Cohen from shifting assets outside the reach of the courts and to recoup as much as possible of this amount.
If November 8th passes without a resolution, it’s most likely that the 29 remaining Landmark locations that are currently operating will be shuttered. While greatly diminished, Landmark’s closure would represent a significant setback for the U.S. market, especially for smaller specialty distributors including NEON and A24. However, some who are close to the situation expect Cohen to find a way to reach “a positive solution” to the crisis. Let’s hope he’s right!
