 | |
| Company type | Brand |
|---|---|
| Industry | Cinema |
Area served | United States,New Zealand,Australia |
Key people | Ellen M. Cotter (Chairman,President andCEO) Mark Douglas (Managing Director - Australia and New Zealand) |
| Parent | Reading International |
| Website | http://readingcinemasus.com/ (US) https://readingcinemas.co.nz/ (NZ) https://readingcinemas.com.au/ (AU) |
Reading Cinemas (/ˈrɛdɪŋ/RED-ing) is a group of cinema chains operating in theUnited States,New Zealand, andAustralia. They are owned by Reading International, a U.S.-based company.[1]
In the late 1980s, through his holding company the Craig Corporation,Los Angeles–based lawyer James Cotter acquired theReading Company, a former American railroad company that held a portfolio ofreal estate properties after it sold its railroad assets androlling stock in 1976. Through the rest of the 1990s, Cotter acquired, developed, and operated real estate properties, focusing on cinema exhibitors and live theatre operators. Most of the company's holdings by this time were located far beyond the company's historical native ground of easternPennsylvania.[citation needed]
Reading entered theAustralia market in 1995 and theNew Zealand market two years later, in 1997, developing a chain of multiplex cinemas that operated under the Reading banner and exhibited mainstream films. In the United States, Reading pursued a more offbeat business direction, acquiring an art-house theatre at the historicCable Building inNew York City in 1996 that operated under the nameAngelika Film Center. The company also acquired and expanded a chain of multiplex cinemas throughout the island ofPuerto Rico.[1]
By 1996, Cotter reorganized the company as Reading Entertainment, aDelaware corporation, and on December 31, 2001, bothReading Entertainment and Craig Corporation merged into and with Citadel Holding Corporation, another Cotter company.[3]
Cotter died in August 2014, leaving his investment in the company in trusts that have been subjected to multiple years of litigation between his designated successor CEO, his son James Jr., and his daughters (Jr.'s sisters), Ellen and Margaret.
In 2015, James Jr. was ousted by his sisters and a majority of the board of Reading International and Ellen Cotter subsequently was named CEO.[4]
In 2023,Mayor of WellingtonTory Whanau and the Wellington Council had voted to give Council staff the approval to negotiate the NZ$32 million agreement to refurbish and earthquake-strengthen theWellington building, which housed the historic Wellington theater, but had been closed since 2019.[5] In April 2024, theWellington City Council exited the agreement, citing Reading's inability to come up with its share of the investment.[6]
