Movie Theater Woes

Alamo Drafthouse temporarily closes 4 Dallas-Fort Worth locations

Alamo Drafthouse North Richland Hills auditorium

The auditoriums of four Dallas-Fort Worth Alamo Drafthouse locations will remain empty following recent closures.

Photo by Kathy Tran

Just one month after announcing its optimistic reopening plans, Alamo Drafthouse has temporarily closed four of its six Dallas-Fort Worth locations.

Bill DiGaetano, Chief Executive Officer of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema North Texas, released the following statement September 17: "To better weather the COVID storm and the decreased overall demand due to a lack of major new releases, we’ve decided to consolidate our business in Dallas and temporarily close four of our DFW-area franchise locations — Cedars, North Richland Hills, Denton, and Las Colinas.

"We’re happy to continue bringing you the best cinematic experience possible at our Richardson and Lake Highlands locations, and look forward to re-emerging with our other locations once major new releases resume."

An Alamo representative had no information on what constitutes "decreased overall demand," how long the temporary closures will last, or why the Richardson and Lake Highlands locations were chosen to remain open over the other four.

There were no other new closures in any other Texas markets, as not all of the theater chain's 41 national locations reopened following the initial shutdown in March. All six Dallas-Fort Worth locations reopened at the end of August, along with the LaCenterra location in Houston, Slaughter Lane and Lakeline locations in Austin, and the Stone Oak location in San Antonio. Currently, four of the six Austin locations, two of the three San Antonio locations, and the New Braunfels location remain closed.

Alamo had put a number of increased safety measures in place to entice moviegoers back, including sanitizing chairs and tables with an electrostatic fogger and disinfectant between screenings; limited capacity at each screening; a face mask requirement for all staff and guests; and all online ordering of tickets and food.

The biggest recent new release, Christopher Nolan's Tenet, made only $20 million in its opening weekend, a far cry from what a blockbuster like that would normally earn. With no major new releases scheduled in the coming weeks and films like No Time to Die moving to Thanksgiving and Wonder Woman 1984 moving to Christmas, demand for in-person moviegoing is likely to remain low.

movies closings

Concert News

Sports Illustrated brings concert series to Dallas during FIFA World Cup

Photo courtesy of Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated will present SI Beyond the Pitch at SILO in Dallas on June 20.

Sports Illustrated will capitalize on the excitement surrounding the 2026 FIFA World Cup with SI Beyond the Pitch, a multi-city event series staged across four host cities, including Dallas.

The premium, ticketed experiences are open to the public, bringing together world-class performers and globally recognized brand partners.

According to a release, the Dallas event, taking place at SILO on June 20, will feature a headline performance by Gordo, the DJ formerly known as Carnage, who has worked with multiple big name artists, most notably Drake.

Gordo produced multiple songs for two of Drake's No. 1 albums, Honestly, Nevermind in 2022 and For All the Dogs in 2023.

The Dallas concert will feature additional talent to be announced at a later date, organizers say. Attendees will also be able to enjoy experiences from event partners like Verizon, they say.

SI Beyond the Pitch will take place two days before Argentina plays Austria at AT&T Stadium in Arlington (June 22) in the group stage of the monthlong tournament.

Other SI Beyond the Pitch concerts will take place on June 12 in Los Angeles, headlined by Nelly; June 26 in Miami, headlined by The Chainsmokers; and July 18 in New York City, headlined by 50 Cent and Diplo.

Tickets and VIP Tables for all four concerts will go on sale on Friday, May 15 at 9 am. Fans can preregister for tickets at SIBeyondThePitch.com.

Nine matches will be played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, including a semifinal.

Dallas will also host the official FIFA Fan Festival Dallas at Fair Park and serve as the central hub for tournament coordination with the International Broadcast Center at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.

concerts world cup music