Waltham's Embassy Cinema Sold To Billionaire Movie Fan

WALTHAM, MA — There are changes afoot at the local cinema, but not likey ones that movie-goers will notice. Landmark Theatres, the 52-theater arthouse chain that owns Embassy Cinema on Pine Street and Kendall Square Cinema in Cambridge was bought by a film company owned by well-known film loving billionaire this month.

Cohen Media Group, a film production and distribution company owned by billionaire, Charles Cohen who is known in film circles as someone who loves independent film, will be taking over the arthouse chain that happens to be the nation's largest specialized theater chain dedicated to independent cinema. Landmark Theatres has 252 screens in 27 cities, including the two in the Boston area.

Terms of the sale earlier this month were not disclosed, according to a press release. Representatives of Cohen said they would keep the current Landmark Theatres senior management team and had no plans to disrupt staffing but a spokesperson said she wouldn't comment further on the future plans for Embassy Cinema.

So far there have been no noticiable changes.

"We are thrilled that we are passing the baton to Charles, a buyer who is passionate about independent cinema," said Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban who co owned Landmark Theatres.

Ship To Shore, LLC acquired the Pine Street site in 1997 for $550,000 and developed it into the theater. In 2016 they sold the building that housed the six-screen theater, some 20,000 square feet of space on two levels, for $3.1 million to Katz Properties, which said at the time it had no plans to redevelop the site. The cinema has about eight years left on the lease, according to WickedLocal, which reported the building sale at the time.

Landmark Theatres was part of the Wagner/Cuban Companies, a group of media properties co-owned by Wagner and Cuban that also included theatrical and home entertainment distribution company Magnolia Pictures, production company 2929 Productions, and high definition networks AXS TV and HDNet Movies.

Landmark was one of the first chains to introduce non-conventional seating with the installation of couches and love seats in its theatres. Landmark was also one of the first to employ DCP digital projectors.

"Anyone who knows Charles, knows he is an avid lover of art and cinema, and this deal to purchase Landmark serves so many of his true passions and interests," said Landmark Theatres President and CEO Ted Mundorff. "By acquiring our chain, he has supercharged and scaled his distribution footprint in the arthouse sector, where he has been a savvy distributor and producer for many, many years. He has also acquired the crown jewel in the arthouse exhibition arena."

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Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram

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