 Final logo used from 2000 to 2025 | |
| Formerly | Northeast Theater Corporation (1936–1959) |
|---|---|
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Entertainment |
| Founded | 1936; 89 years ago (1936) inDedham, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Founder | Michael Redstone |
| Defunct | August 7, 2025; 3 months ago (2025-08-07) |
| Fate | Acquired bySkydance Media and absorbed intoParamount Skydance |
| Successor | Paramount Skydance |
| Headquarters | 846 University Avenue,, U.S. |
Key people | Shari Redstone (chairwoman,president andCEO) |
| Products | Movie theaters |
| Owner | Redstone family |
Number of employees | 23,900 (2017) |
| Divisions | Showcase Cinemas |
| Subsidiaries | Paramount Global (9.76% of total shares and 77.4% of total voting power)[1] UCI Cinemas (Brazil) |
National Amusements, Inc. was an American privately ownedmovie theater operator and mass mediaholding company incorporated inMaryland and based inNorwood, Massachusetts,[2] controlled by the Redstone family. The company owned 69 theaters and 667 screens throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, and Latin America under several brands, such asShowcase Cinemas, Multiplex Cinemas, and Cinema de Lux. It was the controlling shareholder ofParamount Global.
National Amusements was founded byMichael Redstone, and later passed to his sonSumner Redstone. After his 2020 death, the company was passed to a trust led by his daughterShari Redstone. After nearly 90 years of control by the Redstone family, in July 2024,David Ellison'sSkydance Media announced its intent to acquire National Amusements and perform merger between Skydance Media and Paramount Global to formParamount Skydance Corporation.[3] TheFederal Communications Commission (FCC) approved themerger of Skydance Media and Paramount Global on July 24, 2025,[4] with the merger closing on August 7, 2025, with National Amusements being absorbed into Paramount Skydance.[5][6]
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1886 | Westinghouse Electric Corporation is founded as Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company |
| 1912 | Famous Players Film Company is founded |
| 1913 | Lasky Feature Play Company is founded |
| 1914 | Paramount Pictures is founded |
| 1916 | Famous Players and Lasky merge asFamous Players–Lasky and acquire Paramount |
| 1927 | Famous Players–Lasky is renamed to Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation;CBS is founded with investment fromColumbia Records |
| 1929 | Paramount acquires 49% of CBS |
| 1930 | Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation is renamed to Paramount Publix Corporation |
| 1932 | Paramount sells back its shares of CBS |
| 1934 | Gulf+Western is founded as the Michigan Bumper Corporation |
| 1935 | Paramount Publix Corporation is renamed to Paramount Pictures |
| 1936 | National Amusements is founded as Northeast Theater Corporation |
| 1938 | CBS acquires Columbia Records |
| 1950 | Desilu is founded and CBS distributes its television programs |
| 1952 | CBS creates the CBS Television Film Sales division |
| 1958 | CBS Television Film Sales is renamed to CBS Films |
| 1966 | Gulf+Western acquires Paramount |
| 1967 | Gulf+Western acquires Desilu and renames itParamount Television (nowCBS Studios) |
| 1968 | CBS Films is renamed to CBS Enterprises |
| 1970 | CBS Enterprises is renamed toViacom |
| 1971 | Viacom is spun off from CBS |
| 1987 | National Amusements acquires Viacom |
| 1988 | CBS sells Columbia Records toSony |
| 1989 | Gulf+Western is renamed toParamount Communications |
| 1994 | Viacom acquires Paramount Communications |
| 1995 | Paramount Television andUnited Television launchUPN; Westinghouse acquires CBS |
| 1997 | Westinghouse is renamed toCBS Corporation |
| 2000 | Viacom acquires UPN and CBS Corporation |
| 2005 | Viacomsplits into the secondCBS Corporation andViacom |
| 2006 | Skydance Media is founded as Skydance Productions; CBS Corporationshuts down UPN and replaces it withThe CW |
| 2009 | Paramount and Skydance enter an agreement to co-produce and co-finance films |
| 2017 | CBS Corporation sellsCBS Radio to Entercom (nowAudacy) |
| 2019 | CBS Corporation and Viacomre-merge as ViacomCBS |
| 2022 | ViacomCBS is renamed toParamount Global |
| 2025 | Skydance acquires National Amusements andmerges with Paramount Global asParamount Skydance |
The company was founded byMichael Redstone in 1936 in theBoston suburb ofDedham asNortheast Theater Corporation, operating a chain ofmovie theaters in the region. In 1959, when the founder's sonSumner Redstone joined the company, it was renamed National Amusements, the present name.
On June 10, 1987, the company became the majority owner ofthe original incarnation of Viacom,[7] a formerCBS subsidiary syndicatingtelevision programs to stations around theUnited States. Since the buyout, Viacom continued to expand through purchases from the early 1990s to the early 2000s, announcing plans to merge with Paramount Communications (formerlyGulf+Western), parent ofParamount Pictures, in 1993 (which closed in 1994), buying theBlockbuster Video chain in 1994, merging withthe original CBS Corporation in 2000,[8] and acquiring BET Holdings (which becameBET Media Group) in 2001.[9]
In March 2005, due to Viacom's declining stock price, National Amusements announced that it would split its media subsidiary into two companies that would remain under its control, which was completed on December 31.[10][11] The original Viacom became the second CBS Corporation as it keptCBS,Simon & Schuster,[12] andParamount Network Television (nowCBS Studios), among other assets, whileMTV Networks, BET Media Group, and Paramount Pictures were spun-off to a sister company under theViacom name. The second iterations of Viacom and CBS Corporation commenced trading on January 3, 2006.[13]
At the end of 2008, due to financial troubles, ownersSumner Redstone andShari Redstone sold $400 million of nonvoting shares in National Amusements.[14][15] In October 2009, the company sold almost $1 billion of its interest in the stock of CBS and Viacom[16] and sold 35 theaters toRave Motion Pictures. Today these theatres are owned byCinemark,AMC, Alamo, or have closed. National Amusements now almost exclusively operates theaters in theNortheastern United States (with the exception of one location in Ohio).[17] The following year, National Amusements planned to sell $390 million of notes to refinance a large part of the company's bank owed debt.[18]
In 2019, it was announced that the multinational media conglomerates controlled by National Amusements — Viacom and CBS Corporation — wouldre-merge to form a new company named ViacomCBS.[19] Viacom and CBS announced that the merger would close on December 4;[20][21] following the official close,[22] the company began trading on theNASDAQ the following day. In 2022, the company was renamedParamount Global.[23]
Sumner Redstone, who was National Amusements' chairman, CEO and owner, died on August 11, 2020.[24] His holdings were transferred to a trust led by his daughterShari Redstone.[25]
In January 2024, it was reported that film producerDavid Ellison was interested in buying National Amusements from the Redstones. If the acquisition would be closed, the company would be placed under Ellison'sSkydance Media.[26] On July 2, it was reported that Skydance had reached a preliminary agreement, and that it had been referred to a special committee of Paramount's board for approval.[27][28][29] On July 7, Skydance officially announced its intent to acquire Paramount Global, under a process in which Skydance will acquire National Amusements for $2.4 billion, pay Paramount's Class A and Class B stockholders $4.5 billion in cash and shares, and then perform an all-stock merger between Paramount and Skydance.[30][31][32]
On August 7, 2025, Paramount Skydance presidentJeff Shell announced that they were exploring a sale of the National Amusements assets.[33]
After Paramount Global and Skydance Media merged to formParamount Skydance Corporation on August 7, 2025, National Amusements would be absorbed into the company. However, Paramount Skydance would operateShowcase Cinemas andUCI Cinemas Brazil (both its division of National Amusements), which continues to operate as of September 2025.
The company operated more than 650 movie screens across theNortheastern United States, theUnited Kingdom, andLatin America under its Showcase Cinemas, Showcase Cinema de Lux, Multiplex Cinemas, andCinema de Lux. InCanada, National Amusements, through its 1994 acquisition of Viacom, also ownedFamous Players; individual cinemas from the now-defunct chain are now owned byCineplex Entertainment andLandmark Cinemas. In 2004, National Amusements acquired the Brazilian operations of cinema chain UCI, and revamped them so they could be more in line with their Showcase chain. They also share some of the corporate identities of Showcase and have XPlus & De Lux rooms in selected cinemas, as well as fully reclining seats.
National Amusements owned a 9.7% equity stake and 79.9% voting interest inParamount Global, and used to operate its predecessors,the second CBS Corporation andthe second Viacom before their closure in 2019, both split from the also defunctfirst Viacom.[34] The company may hold an unspecified stake inAudacy, Inc., as part of thereverse Morris trust that spunCBS's radio assets off to that company; CBS Corporation shareholders overall held a 72% stake in the then-named Entercom as of the spin-off.[35]
