Landmark Theatre history

It shows its first “talkie,” “The Broadway Melody” on March 30, 1929.

In 1933, Loew’s presented its first public demonstration of television.

In 1934, it introduced double features.

After acquiring the Nuart Theatre, Gilula and his management team acquired the Ken Cinema, a theater built in 1946 that exhibited the first high-quality foreign films in San Diego.

In 1947, Loew’s State Box Office receipts were at their peak.

In 1954, Loew’s State Theatre’s organ became defunct.

In 1967, the parent corporation of Loew’s State Theatre announced the closing and probable demolition of the Theatre.

Arthur Steloff ran Heritage Entertainment Inc., a company he took public in 1969.

Landmark Theatre Corporation began as Parallax Theatres which was founded in 1974 by Kim Jorgensen with the opening of the Nuart in Los Angeles, Sherman in Sherman Oaks, The Rialto in South Pasadena, and Ken in San Diego.

On May 21, 1975, the Citizen’s Committee to Save Loew’s was formed, but sadly, it was too late.

Steve Gilula and Gary Meyer became partners in 1976 as the chain expanded as Landmark.

In August of 1977, Sutton Real Estate retained ownership of the office building, but SALT was able to buy the Theatre portion for $65,000 – on the condition that funds could be raised within 90 days.

He decided instead to join the family’s real estate business, Cohen Brothers Realty, in 1979, and later bought out his father and uncle.

1980: Landmark abandons its repertory format in favor of an art-house format.

In 1981, Landmark acquired the Neptune Theatre in Seattle.

In 1982, Landmark was merged with a Sante Fe, New Mexico-based company named Movies, Inc., a transaction that gave Gilula 12 new screens in eight new cities in the southern and southwestern United States.

In 1985, he acquired New York-based IFEX, an importer and exporter of films that for the previous decade had acted as an agent for Soviet-bloc countries to acquire Western programming.

In 1988, The Oriental Theatre in Milwaukee was converted to a triplex by adding 2 theaters underneath the balcony.

1989 brought a merger between Landmark and the Seven Gables theater circuit from Seattle and Portland.

While Heritage declared bankruptcy in December 1990, the purchase of Landmark was not considered to be the cause for the company's rapid collapse.

The deal was concluded in late 1991, making privately held Samuel Goldwyn Co. a public company because of Heritage's status as a publicly traded concern.

In 1994, Landmark was midway through an expansion program whose aim was to increase the number of its screens by 30 percent.

In 1995, two of Landmark's own creations opened, the five-screen Embarcadero Center Cinema in San Francisco and the nine-screen Kendall Square Cinema in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the largest art house in the country.

Wagner and Cuban had founded a company named Broadcast.com, which they sold to Yahoo! for $5.7 billion in 1999.

In 2000, construction of a third theater was completed, the seven-screen Century Centre Cinema, a property that marked Landmark's return to the Chicago market.

Landmark, in mid-2001, was acquired by Silver Cinema's leading unsecured creditor, a Los Angeles-based investment management company named Oaktree Capital Management LLC. Oaktree paid $40 for Landmark and installed Paul Richardson and Bert Manzari as its two senior executives.

Oaktree, whose investment strategy meant it generally held onto a company for only a short time, sold Landmark in 2003 to an entertainment holding company named 2929 Entertainment.

2004: Construction is completed of the E Street Cinema in Washington, D.C.

In 2005, Landmark was the first exhibition circuit to deploy Sony 4K cinema; in-theater digital signage was introduced.

2006 brought the introduction of Vertical integration with the release of BUBBLE by Steven Soderbergh.

In 2007, Landmark Theatres acquired the Ritz Theatre Group in Philadelphia which consisted of the Ritz East, Ritz at the Bourse and Ritz V. Landmark opened their flagship theater in Los Angeles, The Landmark.

Formed in 2008, Cohen Media Group produces and distributes independent films.

The Shattuck Cinemas in Berkeley received a comprehensive remodel in 2009 including new theater seating, lighting and carpets.

In Spring 2011, Landmark Theatres was put up for sale, and after receiving multiple bids, was taken off the market.

The Uptown, Minneapolis, reopened in its new incarnation on September 14, 2012 which included reserved ticketing and full bar service while still preserving a balcony and a 50-foot tower, originally placed to mark the Uptown area.

The Bethesda Row Cinema, MD, located outside of Washington D.C., was completely renovated in May 2013 with new, reserved seating in all eight auditoriums and a full-service bar featuring local brews and film-themed cocktails.

On November 20, 2015, Landmark Theatres acquires Albany, New York independent movie house Spectrum 8 Theatres.

In December 2016, Landmark opened their luxury theatre The Landmark at Merrick Park located in the Shops at Merrick Park shopping center in Coral Gables, Florida.

In June 2017, Landmark closed their Seven Gables and Guild 45 theaters in Seattle.

In April 2018, it was made public that Wagner/Cuban had put Landmark up for sale.

On October 24, 2019 it was announced that long-time CEO Ted Mundorff had resigned, effectively immediately.

In late January 2020, it was announced that Landmark Theatres would be closing two locations, the Clay Theatre in San Francisco (opened as the Regent 110 years before) and the Ritz at the Bourse in Philadelphia.