Loews Cineplex Entertainment, also known as Loews Incorporated, was an American theater chain operating in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
.
The company was originally named "Loew's" after its founder
Marcus Loew. In 1969, when the Tisch brothers acquired the company, it became known as "Loews". The company merged with Canadian-based
Cineplex Odeon Corporation
Cineplex Odeon is a theatre brand owned by Cineplex Entertainment in Canada, after acquiring the Cineplex Odeon Corporation in 1998. As of 2023, there are 61 Cineplex Odeon locations in Canada.
The former corporation was one of North America's ...
in 1998, but went bankrupt in 2001, like many other major theater chains at the time. The company merged with
AMC Theatres
AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (doing business as AMC Theatres, originally an abbreviation for American Multi-Cinema; often referred to simply as AMC) is an American movie theater chain founded in Kansas City, Missouri, and now headquartered ...
on January 26, 2006, while the Canadian operations merged with
Cineplex Galaxy in 2003.
The Loews Theatres name was used until 2017, when AMC streamlined its branding after acquiring Carmike Cinemas, focusing on three main divisions: AMC, AMC Classic, and AMC Dine-In. Prior to the discontinuation, Loews Cineplex operated its theatres under the Loews Theatres, Cineplex Odeon,
Star Theatres,
Magic Johnson Theatres,
Cinemex and
MEGABOX brands. Its corporate offices were located in New York and Toronto.
From 1924 to 1959,
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM) was its sibling company until it sold its controlling interest in Loew's Theatres to the Tisch brothers. Later, this company was jointly owned by Sony Pictures and Universal Studios. It operated theaters in the United States, Canada, South Korea, Spain, and Mexico.
History

Loew's Theatres Incorporated was formed in 1904 in
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
, by entrepreneur Marcus Loew. Loew founded a chain of
nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...
theaters which showed short silent films in storefront locations. Soon the company opened
vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...
houses and
movie palaces. Loew's theaters were found in cities throughout the United States, but primarily in East Coast and Midwest states.
To provide films for his theaters, Loew founded
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
(MGM) in 1924, by merging the earlier firms
Metro Pictures
Metro Pictures Corporation was a Film, motion picture production company founded in early 1915 in Jacksonville, Florida. It was a forerunner of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The company produced its films in New York, Los Angeles, and sometimes at le ...
,
Goldwyn Pictures
Goldwyn Pictures Corporation was an American motion picture production company that operated from 1916 to 1924 when it was merged with two other production companies to form the major studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was founded on November 19, ...
, and
Louis B. Mayer Productions. Loew's Incorporated served as the distribution arm and parent company for the studio until the two were separated by the 1948
U.S. Supreme Court ruling ''
United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc.'' The two companies officially split in 1959.
Loews Corporation, the successor company to the original firm founded by
Marcus Loew, announced on April 9, 1985, that it was negotiating to sell Loews Theatres to a group headed by A. Jerrold Perenchio. Loews Corporation by this time was a holding company owned by brothers
Robert
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...
and
Laurence Tisch that specialized in hotels and insurance. Perenchio completed the acquisition for $160 million on July 11.
On October 20, 1986, when federal regulations had been relaxed,
Tri-Star Pictures, then a joint venture co-owned by
The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational corporation founded in 1892. It manufactures, sells and markets soft drinks including Coca-Cola, other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, and alcoholic beverages. Its stock is lis ...
(also owners of
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...
at the time) and
Time Inc.'s
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
, entered an agreement to acquire Loews Theatre Management Corporation for $300 million; Tri-Star closed the acquisition in December. HBO left Tri-Star, which merged with Columbia Pictures in 1987, resulting in the formation of
Columbia Pictures Entertainment. On May 26, 1987, Tri-Star said it planned to double the 300-screen chain's size over the next year and a half through acquisitions and constructing new theaters. On January 25, 1988, Columbia agreed to acquire USA Cinemas Inc., with 325 screens, for $165 million; the acquisition was closed on March 2. Later in 1988, Loews bought 48 screens in the Washington, D.C. area from Roth Enterprises, M&R Theatres with 70 screens in the Chicago area, and
JF Theatres, Inc. with 66 screens in the Baltimore area. Upon the full acquisition of Tri-Star by
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...
, and when Columbia Pictures Entertainment (now
Sony Pictures Entertainment) was bought from Coca-Cola by
Sony
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
in 1989, Sony inherited the theaters.
On April 19, 1994, Loews announced it would change its name to Sony Theatres. On April 27, Sony partnered with basketball player
Magic Johnson to form
Magic Johnson Theatres, a mini-chain of theaters specifically geared toward the
inner cities, particularly in Los Angeles. A year before,
Sony Dynamic Digital Sound was installed in several theatres, since the parent company used it to promote Sony's cinema sound division, which eventually shut down in 2002. Sony Theatres began reverting to the Loews Theatres name in October 1996.
In September 1997,
Cineplex Odeon Corporation
Cineplex Odeon is a theatre brand owned by Cineplex Entertainment in Canada, after acquiring the Cineplex Odeon Corporation in 1998. As of 2023, there are 61 Cineplex Odeon locations in Canada.
The former corporation was one of North America's ...
announced that it would merge with Loews Theatres for $1 billion; the merger was later approved by the
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...
on April 16, 1998 and was later completed that year to form Loews Cineplex Entertainment, thus making it a joint venture between Sony and
Universal Studios. The combined company had theatres in the United States, Canada, Mexico, South Korea, and Spain. The company sold off its newly acquired subsidiary,
Cineplex Odeon Films, to
Alliance Atlantis, which was formed from the merger of
Alliance Entertainment Corporation and Atlantis Communications that year. In 2001 the company declared
Chapter 11
Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...
bankruptcy. Among the changes was the closures of 46 theatres in North America including 21 Loews theatres in the U.S. and 25 Cineplex Odeon theatres in Canada.
In 2002,
Onex Corporation and
Oaktree Capital Management acquired Loews Cineplex from Sony and Universal and the company was filed for
initial public offering
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...
(IPO). In 2004, they sold Loews to a private group of investors which included the
Carlyle Group and
Bain Capital. Onex retained the Canadian Loews Cineplex and merged it with Galaxy Cinemas to form
Cineplex Galaxy Income Fund.
In 2005,
AMC Theatres
AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (doing business as AMC Theatres, originally an abbreviation for American Multi-Cinema; often referred to simply as AMC) is an American movie theater chain founded in Kansas City, Missouri, and now headquartered ...
announced that it would merge with Loews Cineplex Entertainment and that the merged company would adopt the AMC name.
At the time of the merger, Loews operated 198 theaters with 2,235 screens. Many theaters were rebranded as AMC Loews until the Loews name was phased out in 2017.
Gallery
File:Loews Cineplex Times Square.jpg, Loews Theatre, Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and Neighborhoods in New York City, neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway (Manhattan), ...
, New York City, 2005
File:Church Street Cambridge MA Lowes Cinema 24 June 2007.jpg, Loews Theatre in Harvard Square
Harvard Square is a triangular plaza at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue (Boston), Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street (Cambridge, Massachusetts), Brattle Street and John F. Kennedy Street near the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, C ...
, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...
, 2007
File:Loewslynnwood.jpg, Loews Alderwood 16 in Lynnwood, Washington, opened in March 2005 before the merger with AMC Theatres
AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (doing business as AMC Theatres, originally an abbreviation for American Multi-Cinema; often referred to simply as AMC) is an American movie theater chain founded in Kansas City, Missouri, and now headquartered ...
File:Québec city, quebec QC 04.jpg, Cinéma Cineplex Odeon in Sainte-Foy, Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
, was one of the Cineplex Odeon-branded theatres built by Loews Cineplex in Canada in the early 2000s prior to its merger by Galaxy Cinemas
File:Famous Players Canada Square Cinemas.jpg, The former Cineplex Odeon Canada Square Cinemas in Yonge-Eglinton (Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
) opened in 1985. Closed by Loews Cineplex in 2001 and was acquired by Famous Players
Famous Players Limited Partnership was a Canadian-based subsidiary of Cineplex Entertainment. As an independent company, it existed as a film exhibitor and cable television service provider. Famous Players operated numerous film, movie theatre ...
due to space limitations at a nearby SilverCity.
File:Loews Theatres box office, Metreon.JPG, A Loews Theatre box office in Metreon, San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
See also
*
Loew's Wonder Theaters
* ''
United States v. Loew's Inc.'', a 1962 Supreme Court decision on
block booking
*
Cineplex Entertainment
References
Further reading
*
External links
{{Authority control, state=expanded
Movie theatre chains in the United States
AMC Theatres
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Entertainment companies based in New York City
Defunct companies based in New York City
Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2001
American companies established in 1904
Entertainment companies established in 1904
Mass media companies established in 1904
Mass media companies disestablished in 2006
1904 establishments in Ohio
2006 disestablishments in New York (state)
Companies formerly listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange
Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Former components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average
1998 initial public offerings
2002 initial public offerings
2006 mergers and acquisitions
Bain Capital companies
The Carlyle Group companies
Former joint ventures
Former Sony subsidiaries
Former Vivendi subsidiaries