Dallas, TX (August 18, 2011) — Rave Cinemas, LLC (“Rave”) today announced that John F. Antioco, a Director of Rave and the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Blockbuster Inc., will succeed Charles B. Moss, Jr. as Rave’s Chairman. Mr. Moss will remain as the second-largest investor in the company and a member of the board of directors. The leadership change will take place at the meeting of the board of directors on September 19, 2011.
In a statement, TowerBrook Capital Partners said, “Charley has provided outstanding leadership over his tenure as Rave Cinemas has integrated the 33 movie theaters it acquired from National Amusements and has continued to roll out digital, 3-D and IMAX technologies and alternative content across its 61 owned or managed theaters. We are delighted that he will stay on the Rave board and continue to offer the company his deep industry expertise. In addition, we are pleased to have a director of John’s caliber to succeed Charley.”
Rolando B. Rodriguez, Rave Cinema’s Chief Executive Officer, said, “Charley has been a tremendous mentor to me during my transition to chief executive officer, and I am grateful for his guidance. I look forward to his continued contributions and strong relationship with Rave.”
“Rave Cinemas is a pioneer in the theater exhibition industry, and I have enjoyed contributing to the leadership of such an innovative company,” said Mr. Moss. “John’s extensive experience in the strategic management of retail and entertainment businesses will be invaluable to Rave as the company continues to grow.”
Mr. Antioco commented, “Rave is well positioned to continue leading innovation in the industry and I am looking forward to working closely with Rolando and his team.”
Mr. Antioco has had a long and successful career in the entertainment, retail and restaurant industries. Prior to joining Rave Cinema’s board of directors, he led Blockbuster Inc. through a series of transformative strategic and operational initiatives during his time as the company’s Chairman and CEO, and under his stewardship, the company saw its revenue increase from $3.3 billion to over $6 billion. Before Blockbuster, Mr. Antioco spent 30 years in the retail and restaurant sectors, including 20 years at 7-Eleven, where he was ultimately the company’s Senior Vice President responsible for all store operations worldwide. Mr. Antioco was also Chairman and CEO of Circle K and Taco Bell. Currently he is Chairman of J&B Restaurant Partners, the largest franchisee of Friendly’s restaurants.


Wow. I love how everything is spun to be positive. If I’m not mistaken, Blockbuster has filed for bankruptcy and is despite all its efforts is no longer relevant in the home entertainment industry. I don’t see that anything that states that within this description.
Totally agree. Antioco tanks his company with piss poor decision making. All levels of management at Blockbuster, including in-store, are untalented and uneducated, which led to the video giant’s decline. And somehow these imbeciles continue to get work. WTF?
If I had Rave Cinemas stock, I’d sure dump it now on this news.
To his defense, he was not the CEO when it filed for bankruptcy and the company was really in hard position because Viacom spun them off with a massive amount of debt. Viacom essentially took all he cash and stuck them with all the debt, which kept blockbuster from investing in new products because all their money went to paying the interest on the debt. Not to mention it was a pretty big distraction to fend of Icahn and roll that debt over all the time.
I guess Rave is looking to plant it’s feet and avoid change at all costs.
“Rave Cinemas is a pioneer in the theater exhibition industry….”
Ahum, that remark arrives about 100 years too late.
Marcus Loew, Stan Durwood & many more are turning over in their graves.
Betcha “Rave” will eventually be “AMC.”