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Omaha Steve

(99,073 posts)
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 02:52 PM Jun 2020

AMC Theatres has 'substantial doubt' it can remain in business

Source: CNN

By Frank Pallotta,

New York (CNN Business)AMC Theatres, the world's biggest movie theater chain, said on Wednesday that it has "substantial doubt" it can remain in business after closing locations across the globe during the coronavirus pandemic.

The theater chain, which closed its theaters earlier this year, expects to have lost between $2.1 billion and $2.4 billion in the first quarter.

The company also said that its revenue fell to $941.5 million, which was down roughly 22% from $1.2 billion in the same quarter last year. This quarter, the situation has gotten substantially worse.

"We are generating effectively no revenue," the company said in a regulatory filing Wednesday.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/03/media/amc-theatres-business-coronavirus/index.html

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AMC Theatres has 'substantial doubt' it can remain in business (Original Post) Omaha Steve Jun 2020 OP
Movie Theaters, ya had a good run. Brainfodder Jun 2020 #1
I hate the sound levels in theaters - even with earplugs they are deafening. csziggy Jun 2020 #8
So much Winning yankee87 Jun 2020 #2
There's as much consolidation in theaters bucolic_frolic Jun 2020 #3
re: "The same talent rotates through one picture after another" thesquanderer Jun 2020 #6
I worked in a theatre as a kid... Blue_playwright Jun 2020 #7
Their stock is still somehow going up Dopers_Greed Jun 2020 #4
Speculation might be on the side of unloading debt in chapter 11 ArizonaLib Jun 2020 #12
I don't get why those theaters with enormous parking lots could not have develped a hlthe2b Jun 2020 #5
No product to sell FBaggins Jun 2020 #17
I will be very sorry if movie theaters don't eventually reopen. PoindexterOglethorpe Jun 2020 #9
I absoutely agree Skittles Jun 2020 #24
They were already becoming extinct before Raine Jun 2020 #10
Movie theaters are going the way Roc2020 Jun 2020 #11
Someday this POS virus is no longer going to be a thing. Initech Jun 2020 #15
It's been pretty clear that the future for movies is online and not with the theaters. cstanleytech Jun 2020 #13
Oh noes! I'm gonna miss those chain multiplex theaters! Crowman2009 Jun 2020 #14
Seems that a fledgling company would be wise not to eliminate its available content... EarthFirst Jun 2020 #16
Universal or Fox? mac56 Jun 2020 #18
Good. Now the Indy theaters zentrum Jun 2020 #19
+1 Crowman2009 Jun 2020 #22
Maybe it will Rebl2 Jun 2020 #20
AMC Theaters have been going down ever since a Chinese TexasBushwhacker Jun 2020 #21
They have been going down slowly for awhile. Virus just kind of sped it up. Xolodno Jun 2020 #23

Brainfodder

(6,423 posts)
1. Movie Theaters, ya had a good run.
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 02:58 PM
Jun 2020

But FUCK OFF on your concession prices!

Made me smuggle in candy, HOW DARE YOU!



I prefer my blu-rays anyway!

No waiting, no ignorance, no missing anything!

csziggy

(34,120 posts)
8. I hate the sound levels in theaters - even with earplugs they are deafening.
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 03:29 PM
Jun 2020

Besides, at home I can pause the movie for a restroom or snack break. At my age, that is very important. My seats are more comfortable and the cat can join me.

The final point in favor of watching movies at home - if I fall asleep during the movie, my snoring doesn't bother anyone but my husband.

yankee87

(2,077 posts)
2. So much Winning
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 02:59 PM
Jun 2020

Everyone knew 45 would be a disaster, but it's worse than I could have ever imagined. Putin is smiling at how well his puppet has destroyed America.

bucolic_frolic

(42,678 posts)
3. There's as much consolidation in theaters
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 03:00 PM
Jun 2020

as in shoes, supermarkets, and power equipment. Remember Cineplex Odeon.

The money in movies is in the movies. Theater chains are merely supposed to provide a venue for Hollywood to make money. Cineplex' job was to grow space as fast as possible. Seems to me the CEO was a brother-in-law or some relative of a movie exec. Not sure shareholders were very well rewarded.

And the movies? I'll get piled on here, but highbrow patrons usually do. They've created genres. The same talent rotates through one picture after another. I'd be tired of them if I ever went to see them in the first place.

thesquanderer

(11,955 posts)
6. re: "The same talent rotates through one picture after another"
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 03:22 PM
Jun 2020

That's not new. Hollywood was built on keeping box-office talent under contract and putting them into one picture after another.

Blue_playwright

(1,568 posts)
7. I worked in a theatre as a kid...
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 03:25 PM
Jun 2020

We made nothing from ticket sales. Zilch. Between renting the films, paying delivery fees, etc. nada. And some movie companies wanted a cut of concessions for certain films and restricted specials or coupons.

Concessions is how they stay open and pay their team. It’s ridiculous.

ArizonaLib

(1,242 posts)
12. Speculation might be on the side of unloading debt in chapter 11
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 04:58 PM
Jun 2020

Unload the debt, new profits go to stockholders, stock buybacks, etc. Before Reagan/Bush personal interest on credit card debt, etc. was deductible.

hlthe2b

(101,730 posts)
5. I don't get why those theaters with enormous parking lots could not have develped a
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 03:02 PM
Jun 2020

"drive-in" business to at least help carry them over. Obviously if the theater adjoins residential areas, that might not work, but it might have helped a bit...

FBaggins

(26,697 posts)
17. No product to sell
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 06:27 PM
Jun 2020

Production companies aren't going to release their blockbusters if they can't get the audiences that fund them. Only a small number of mega-theaters might theoretically be able to convert to a drive-in model (and at significant expense)... and that small number could never generate the hundreds of millions of dollars in ticket sales that would be needed.

And with no movies being released... nobody would show up.

Just checked. "The Wretched" has been the #1 film for over a month now...

... and has yet to make its first million in ticket sales (cumulative).

PoindexterOglethorpe

(25,750 posts)
9. I will be very sorry if movie theaters don't eventually reopen.
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 04:07 PM
Jun 2020

Some movies are just better seen on the big screen.

I do suspect that at least one independently owned theater, the Jean Cocteau in Santa Fe, will remain in business.


It's owned by George RR Martin. Deep pockets.

Raine

(30,540 posts)
10. They were already becoming extinct before
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 04:24 PM
Jun 2020

the pandemic, so many people have home theaters and prefer not to go out just to see a movie.

Roc2020

(1,604 posts)
11. Movie theaters are going the way
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 04:42 PM
Jun 2020

of the blockbuster rental store. Some movies are definitely better seeing at the theater. But asking people to risk their life for the experience probably a bridge too far.

Initech

(99,915 posts)
15. Someday this POS virus is no longer going to be a thing.
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 05:44 PM
Jun 2020

And then we will be able to live the experience again. Argh, coronavirus is the fucking worst.

cstanleytech

(26,082 posts)
13. It's been pretty clear that the future for movies is online and not with the theaters.
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 05:38 PM
Jun 2020

Is it sad? Yes however things change when new technology is invented and this is part of that.

Crowman2009

(2,478 posts)
14. Oh noes! I'm gonna miss those chain multiplex theaters!
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 05:41 PM
Jun 2020

I'm gonna miss that meth addict popcorn fart smell, the extremely loud volume of the IMAX 3-D, the babies making loud noises during the movie, and the man who kept mumbling oh god, oh god, oh god... throughout the whole movie.

EarthFirst

(2,877 posts)
16. Seems that a fledgling company would be wise not to eliminate its available content...
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 05:50 PM
Jun 2020

Recently AMC announced that they would no longer carry Universal Pictures films due to a spat with Disney over allowing their first run films to run on their streaming platform and in theaters.

AMC decided that it was not in their best interest to allow this decision; seems foolish now.

TexasBushwhacker

(20,044 posts)
21. AMC Theaters have been going down ever since a Chinese
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 09:51 PM
Jun 2020

mega-corporation (The Wanda Group) bought a major stake (38%). Another 28% is owned by a private equity group. The theaters are poorly staffed and maintained. Shit, one of the AMCs in Houston had an outbreak of bedbugs!

Xolodno

(6,341 posts)
23. They have been going down slowly for awhile. Virus just kind of sped it up.
Wed Jun 3, 2020, 10:37 PM
Jun 2020

My last experience with Star War - The Rise of Skywalker, one of those you want to see with the big screen, IMAX and sound. Got there 30 minutes before it started and mind you, start time that includes all the previews, commercials, etc. Pick up our tickets we bought online and decide, "hey, we seldom go to the movies anymore, lets a get a popcorn and soda to share".

Got in line....all the lines were about the same, just five groups ahead of us. Twenty five minutes later we were the third group and one of them got tired of waiting and left. Looked and my jaw hit the floor. The person behind the concession was doing each order for each person one at a time. So she asked, one person in a party of three what they wanted for a drink....filled it, then asked what size popcorn, filled it, did they want anything else...filled it. Then went to the next person. I looked at the rest of the lines, they hadn't moved much either.

Asked my wife, "screw it?" She said, "yeap". Told the guy behind us good luck, we've been waiting twenty five minutes. Got to our seats, good seats...and were promptly crammed in by other people all around us. After the movie, had a nice late lunch at a nice Indian Restaurant.
=================

If concessions is their money maker, then they should shit sure make sure it move fast as possible. It's not like they are competing with 7-11 on quality of food.

I suspect, many will go under due to a business plan that doesn't work anymore. People will still want to see movies on the big screen for certain movies. Who knows, maybe the studios will buy them out. They get to control the prices, experience, etc. for the blockbusters that people come in droves to see. Nor will they be limited to the "90-120" minute rule.

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