Houston's River Oaks theater has a new owner

Houston's River Oaks theater, the city's last vintage movie theater that's still used for that purpose, no longer is owned by Mark Cuban.

Landmark Theaters, the arthouse theater chain of which the three-screen River Oaks is a part, has been sold by Cuban and business partner Todd Wagner to New York-based Cohen Media Group, the company founded by billionaire real-estate developer Charles S. Cohen.

Landmark sold for an undisclosed sum, according to Variety though Hollywood Reporter says sources put the price tag between $70 and $75 million while Deadline speculated it's closer to $100 million.

Landmark, with 252 screens in 27 cities across the country including Dallas, Los Angeles, New York City, Denver and South Florida, is the nation's most prominent chain devoted to independent cinema.

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Rumors have been swirling since April that Landmark was up for sale and that Amazon and Netflix -- streaming companies now producing original content -- were potential suitors as they try to add brick-and-mortar exhibition to their portfolios.

But Cohen Media Group, a company known among cinephiles for distributing such foreign-language arthouse hits as Oscar-winning "The Salesman," "Timbuktu," and "Mustang" as well as restoring and distributing classic films, won out. Cohen also already operates a handful of specialty theaters including the Quad Cinema in New York City, Larchmont Playhouse in Westchester County, N.Y., and La Pagode in Paris.

"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/CEO Ted Mundorff in a statement.

"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 continued. "He has also acquired the crown jewel in the arthouse exhibition arena with prime A-list locations and an established loyal base of customers who love our theaters, brand, and diverse range of extraordinary, high-quality programming choices throughout the year."

Mundorff is staying in his position.

RELATED: 'Roma,' opening at Landmark River Oaks, one of the year's best.

What all of this means for the River Oaks,  an Art Deco classic built in 1939 at 2009 W. Gray, remains to be seen. As wonderful as it is for both its architecture and programming, the interior of the building does need updating. New seats would be nice.

One of Landmark's properties in Dallas, the 1947-built Inwood Theatre, was updated several years ago with its main auditorium now sporting couches and love seats in place of traditional seats. According to Deadline.com, "Landmark also is the first first chain to introduce non-conventional seating with the installation of couches and love seats in theaters, in addition to DCP digital projectors."

Not all of the Landmark properties are older buildings. The Landmark in Los Angeles and the Landmark at Merrick Park in Coral Gables, Fla., for example, are in newer developments.

Landmark was bought by Cuban and Wagner's 2929 Entertainment company from Oaktree Capital in 2003. Cuban and Wagner tried to sell the chain five years ago, for a reported $200 million, but then took it off the market.

The River Oaks currently is showing "Can You Ever Forgive Me?," "At Eternity's Gate," "Beautiful Boy" and "Maria by Callas." Beginning Thursday, it will be showing Alfonso Cuaron's much anticipated "Roma."