Throughout December and January, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is celebrating writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza,” a love letter to the ‘70s-era San Fernando Valley of Anderson’s youth. From a one-of-a-kind, interactive photo op to curated programming, themed menus, and more, “Licorice Pizza” will be something special to experience at Alamo Drafthouse.

70mm Screenings
Alamo Drafthouse is one of a very small number of theaters across the country screening “Licorice Pizza” on glorious 70mm celluloid, Paul Thomas Anderson’s preferred format. Austin’s flagship South Lamar theater just completed the installation of a 70mm projector, and will join the company’s San Francisco and Brooklyn locations in offering LICORICE PIZZA in the special widescreen format.

Special Themed Menu
They said it couldn’t be done… but with a title like “Licorice Pizza,” you gotta have a special menu, right? Led by returning veterans Trish Eichelberger and Brad Sorenson, Alamo Drafthouse’s culinary team developed a special “Licorice Pizza” Menu that will be available nationwide at screenings beginning December 24th.

The “Licorice Pizza” highlights the licorice notes of fennel in a savory pizza with pork fennel sausage, slow-roasted fennel bulb, charred yellow and red bell peppers, red sauce, mozzarella, and parmesan. Inspired by Alana’s unique cocktail ordered in the film, the “Alanatini” features gin, vodka, dry vermouth, lemon twist, and olive.

Custom Pre-Show
Every screening of “Licorice Pizza” will start with a custom, ad-free pre-show, an exclusive perk of Alamo Drafthouse. Guests will enjoy unique throwbacks to The Valley, entertaining clips from relevant movies and shows, and custom editorial content such as their deep dive on the historical inspirations and collaborators that led Paul Thomas Anderson to create “Licorice Pizza.”

The “Licorice Pizza” Mixtape
Beginning in January, select Alamo Drafthouse locations from coast to coast will present a limited series of repertory programming called The “Licorice Pizza” Mixtape. Each title was chosen to capture the vibe, sights, and sounds of “Licorice Pizza,” including – naturally, Anderson’s previous period pieces set in the Valley, “Boogie Nights” and “Inherent Vice” – as well as “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and “American Graffiti,” which were each cited as influences on the film. Guests can take in the Valley vibes in theater or via Alamo On Demand, the cinema’s streaming service.

“The initial title list came out of a back-and-forth between [programmer] Jake Isgar and myself reacting to the trailer. We shot that list over to PTA and he added a few that made a lot more sense when we saw the movie,” says John Smith, Senior Film Programmer for Alamo Drafthouse. “If you find yourself leaving the theater and wanting to see the movie that Sean Penn’s character was making – well, lucky day, we’re showing ‘Breezy’ in January.”

The Press Room’s “Licorice Pizza” Exclusive Letterpress Poster
Alamo Drafthouse is cranking up The Press Room’s vintage manually-operated Heidelberg letterpress to create Limited Edition Letterpress Prints designed as replicas of the entertainment page of the Valley Times, including both vintage ads from the San Fernando Valley as well as ads inspired by the film. The limited edition prints will be available only at screenings of the film at Alamo Drafthouse locations on opening weekend while supplies last.

Lobby Takeovers
The lobby of Alamo Drafthouse Lower Manhattan will host the Fat Bernie’s Waterbed Photo Op, inviting moviegoers to experience liquid luxury on an exact replica of the “Fat Bernie Waterbed” from the film. Guests even have a chance to win tickets to HAIM’s May 17th concert at Madison Square Garden by sharing their waterbed photos to Instagram with #LicoricePizza and tagging @Drafthouse.

Plus, the lobbies of Alamo Drafthouse Brooklyn and Austin’s Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar are home to two official and super-rare “Licorice Pizza” Pinball Machines, with both set to “free play.” Players can snap a photo of their high score and post to Instagram, tagging @Drafthouse and using the hashtag #LicoricePizza. The highest score posted to Instagram will win a curated set of vintage movie posters of the “Licorice Pizza” era and a pair of tickets to attend HAIM: The One More Haim tour.

About Alamo Drafthouse
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema was founded in 1997 as a single-screen mom and pop repertory theater in Austin, TX. Twenty-four years later, with 37 locations and counting, Alamo Drafthouse has been called “the best theater in America” by Entertainment Weekly and “the best theater in the world” by Wired. Alamo Drafthouse has built a reputation as a movie lover’s oasis not only by combining food and drink service with the movie-going experience, but also introducing unique programming and high profile, star-studded special events. Alamo Drafthouse created Fantastic Fest, a world-renowned film festival dubbed “The Geek Telluride” by Variety. Fantastic Fest showcases eight days of genre cinema from independents, international filmmakers, and major Hollywood studios. Alamo Drafthouse’s collectible art gallery, Mondo, offers breathtaking, original products featuring designs from world-famous artists based on licenses for popular TV and movie properties including Star Wars, Star Trek & Universal Monsters. Alamo Drafthouse continues to expand its brand in new and exciting ways, including the American Genre Film Archive, a non-profit film archive dedicated to preserving, restoring and sharing film, and Alamo On Demand, a new VOD platform boasting a growing and carefully curated library of entertainment for rental or purchase.

About Licorice Pizza
From MGM in association with BRON Creative, “Licorice Pizza” is the story of Alana Kane and Gary Valentine growing up, running around and falling in love in the San Fernando Valley, 1973. Written and Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, the film tracks the treacherous navigation of first love. “Licorice Pizza,” which stars Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman, Sean Penn, Tom Waits, Bradley Cooper and Benny Safdie, will expand to theaters nationwide on Christmas Day, December 25th via distributor United Artists Releasing.