![Image shows the lit up marquee of the River Oaks Theatre in Houston with the message: Great Day Houston](https://offloadmedia.feverup.com/secrethouston.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/13044423/Screen-Shot-2022-02-03-at-2.58.41-AM-1024x683.png)
It was just a few years ago when us Houston cinephiles were devastated to learn that the River Oaks Theatre would be closing its curtains.. Conversely, we were elated to find that the theatre would be saved and brought back to action an arthouse and independent showcase. After years of anticipation, Houston’s iconic River Oaks Theatre has set an opening month: this October.
Built in 1939, the River Oaks Theatre was a go-to for movie buffs. Its traditional art-deco design and carefully curated film selection made it a community favorite among cinephiles. However, amid the economic downturn brought on by the pandemic, including its mandated hiatus three years ago, its parent company Landmark Theatres struggled with property owners Weingarten Realty to come to terms on a rent agreement – all the way to the bitter end.
A new hope emerged, however, when Sugarland’s Star Cinema Grill inked a deal to not only buy the River Oaks Theatre, but to retain its soul as a cinema haven for arthouse and independent film screenings.
Originally, the venue hoped to reopen last year, but was forced to postpone. While there were speculations of a potential opening this summer, it seems that the theatre has finally landing on opening a later month.
The theater’s new artistic director in charge of film and programming, Robert Saucedo, told the Houston Chronicle that the River Oaks Theatre will reopen in Houston this October. Saucedo was previously a senior film buyer for Alamo Drafthouse’s Chicago, Dallas, El Paso, Houston, and Lubbock markets.
True to the original theater, and pledge of its new owners, River Oaks Theatre will reprise screenings of art house films as well as new indie films and midnight screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
“We are going to be showing a lot of the great art-house cinema that people liked watching at the River Oaks. The way I imagine the River Oaks Theatre going forward is to have a robust mix of studio art-house films, the best new indie films from some of these really groundbreaking distributors like Utopia Films, Monument Films, Oscilloscope,” he told the Houston Chronicle.
“All those guys who are doing really cool, small titles, and we are going to show a healthy dose of repertory films like Landmark, but (back then), you’d have to stay to midnight watch repertory films at the River Oaks. We are going to make sure we are showing repertory films throughout the entire day. … But we will also continue to midnight screenings of ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show.'”
This past May, the venue hosted a special sneak preview of the renovated theater for A Saturday with Richard Linklater.
“We are honored to bring back one of Houston’s most iconic entertainment venues,” said Star Cinema Grill CEO Omar Khan said. “The River Oaks Theater will not only offer the best of art house films but will also bring live performances to the venue for theatre arts enthusiasts to enjoy. We felt as Houston’s only owned and operated cinema company that it was our duty to save this masterpiece.”