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Palm Desert, CA: Cinémas Palme d'Or Blames Cinemark for Putting It Out of Business

Posted on Wednesday, April 27, 2016 6:27 PM

The Cinémas Palme d'Or in Palm Desert, California is going out of business, and the owners are blaming actions by Cinemark for the theater's demise. The last day of operations is June 30, 2016. Earlier this week, Flagship Theatres of Palm Desert, LLC. issued the following statement:

April 22, 2016

After 13-years, the partners in Cinémas Palme d’Or regret to announce that it is the end of our run in Palm Desert.

You have been the most loyal patrons we could ever hope for and, together, we have built one of the most original movie theatres in America. Over the years, we have been able to bring amazing talent to Cinémas Palme d’Or for exclusive Live Q&A events. Actors and filmmakers like Helen Mirren, David O. Russell, Viola Davis, Jonah Hill, Brie Larsen, Aaron Paul, Andy Garcia, Doris Roberts, Alexander Payne, Virginia Madsen, Rob Reiner and Bob Odenkirk, to name a few, have all graciously come to Palm Desert, and we were able to let them meet you - the most educated film fans in the world.

Independent theatres like ours have fought for survival over the past decade. We are very proud of Cinémas Palme d’Or, and the struggle has been worth it. We have been able to play an important role in changing the industry, and making it easier for independent theatres, now and in the future, to be successful.

As of July 1, TriStone Cinemas will be operating at our Westfield Palm Desert location. We encourage you to support them, too. Until then, we hope you’ll come back for a few more film experiences at Cinémas Palme d’Or.

We opened our doors on October 10, 2003, and we could have never expected just how successful Cinémas Palme d’Or would be. There is something very special in the bond that we have developed with our devoted customers. Together we have been able to celebrate filmmaking as an art. This has been a golden time for us. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for the memories.

Sincerely,

Steve Mason, Bryan Cranston, Alise Mauritzson, Brian Tabor

Many news outlets are reporting on the theater's closure, largely because of the fact that it is co-owned by "Breaking Bad" and Trumbo actor Bryan Cranston, and due to the ongoing battle the owners have waged against actions by Cinemark on behalf of one of its locations, the Century at The River and XD in Rancho Mirage, which is about two miles away.

Here is an excerpt from an article in The Wall Street Journal:

A southern California movie theater co-owned by “Breaking Bad” actor Bryan Cranston is closing its doors after 13 years, and its owners say a controversial movie-booking practice has driven it out of business.

Cinemas Palme d’Or, a 10-screen theater in Palm Desert, Calif., repeatedly has been denied major studio movies because of so-called “clearance” requests from a Cinemark Holdings Inc. location about 2 miles away, the company said. Those requests allow Cinemark to screen the movie in that market exclusively, often depriving Cinemas Palme d’Or of high-grossing titles.

“We never got the ‘A’ product. We always got the ‘B’ product,” said co-owner Steve Mason, who also works as a host on ESPN Radio. At times, it even became a “gigantic war” to book movies starring Mr. Cranston, he added.

If there is good news in this story, it is that the theater will re-open the day after it closes under new management and a new name. Tristone Cinemas, LLC. will be adding the Palm Desert location to the other five California locations that it operates.

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