The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema - The Ritz in Austin, Texas closed in March 2020 along with every Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas location as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Now, the theater has announced that it will not reopen:

We say goodbye to our downtown Austin location.

“I now declare this cinema to be awesome!”

That’s how Alamo Drafthouse founder Tim League christened Alamo Drafthouse at The Ritz on November 1st, 2007. For nearly thirteen years, The Ritz – the spiritual successor to our original location at 409 Colorado – has been the beating, fiery, cinephile heart of Alamo Drafthouse in Austin. A ninety year old classic movie palace, Alamo Drafthouse Ritz hosted Hollywood legends, welcomed international weirdos as home to SXSW Midnighters, and created countless new film lovers through series like Terror Tuesday, Weird Wednesday, and Master Pancake Theater. 

Last March, we temporarily closed The Ritz along with every other Alamo Drafthouse location. Nearly one year later, we’re incredibly sad to tell you that because of the ongoing impact of COVID, we will not be reopening The Ritz.

:

To our guests – thank you for your continuing support. Post-COVID, we’ll make certain that all of our signature series will find a new home at another Austin Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, and that the spirit and personality of The Ritz will continue.

To the team members who built and sustained The Ritz – thank you, thank you, thank you. You, your sweat, and your passions are what made the Alamo Drafthouse at the Ritz a unique and wonderful home for so many communities in Austin.

And to everyone... Remember the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz.

Located in downtown Austin on East 6th Street, the theater originally opened October 13, 1929 as the Ritz Theatre. It opened as the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema at the Ritz November 1, 2007.

Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas filed for bankruptcy today. Also announced today, the Alamo Drafthouse Marketplace in New Braunfels, Texas and the the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema - Mainstreet in Kansas City, Missouri have closed as well.

Moviegoers in the area will need to visit one of the other nearby theaters, including the Stateside Theatre @ the Paramount, the Paramount Theatre, and the Blue Starlite Mini Urban Drive-in - Austin Downtown in Austin.

Photo by Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.