Netflix Inc. is becoming an unlikely white knight for cinephiles.

The streaming giant -- often criticized by Hollywood traditionalists for undermining the filmgoing experience -- signed a lease agreement that will keep New York’s Paris Theatre operating. The 71-year-old art-house theater, the city’s last single-screen cinema, shut down over the summer after its previous lease expired.

Netflix has already been using the theater to screen “Marriage Story,” a film it produced from director Noah Baumbach. Going forward, it plans to use the midtown Manhattan theater for special events, screenings and the theatrical release of its films.

“We are incredibly proud to preserve this historic New York institution so it can continue to be a cinematic home for film lovers,” Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos said in a statement Monday.

Netflix has also been holding talks to acquire the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles.