Reply #25: Carlyle doesn't own Loew's...yet.

[monchie]

The news stories just announced Carlyle's planned purchase (with two other investors) of Loew's about a week ago. It takes time for these things to be finalized...the deal closing probably won't be for a few months. So there's probably nothing they could do about closing down F911 unless they strongarmed the current owners.

The danger comes in the future. Say Moore wants to make another movie and goes to the Weinstein brothers for financing. They tell him, "Sorry, Michael, but we just can't make any money on this, even with your track record. Loew's just bought up 10 more theatre chains, and they just refuse to screen your films."

So the film doesn't get made.

"What about video?" you ask. Well, VHS/DVD rental in this country is overwhelmingly dominated by one company, Blockbuster. Its corporate owner, Viacom, has had the "for sale" sign out on it for awhile, though I'm not sure if they're still looking for a buyer. Now, suppose Carlyle (or another firm hostile to the kinds of docs Moore makes) buys Blockbuster. Voila--there's another reason why the Weinstein brothers, or Lion's Gate, or IFC might be leery of putting money into a Moore project despite his profitable track record.

You know, I really do hate thinking along tinfoil hat type lines, but it really does seem odd that a company whose primary businesses buy and sell military hardware or provide products and services to government agencies would buy up a theatre chain.