A federal judge denied a motion made by Landmark Theatres to dismiss a lawsuit filed by independent movie theaters accusing the nationwide arthouse chain owned by Mark Cuban of coercing studios into giving them exclusive exhibition licenses.

The lawsuit, which was filed by indie locations in Denver, Detroit, and D.C. last year, accused Landmark of violating the Sherman Antitrust Act by using its market power to squeeze out smaller theaters to guarantee exclusive screenings of specialty films. The lawsuit stated that, in 2016, Landmark itself had sued Regal Cinemas, accusing it of using its influence as a larger nationwide chain to make exclusive deals with studios to exhibit their films. That lawsuit was settled seven months later.

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“Just as Landmark sought relief from Regal’s anticompetitive clearances with respect to Commercial Films (and succeeded), Plaintiffs seek relief from Landmark’s exploitation...