AMC Reports $2.2 Billion Loss, Predicts 100% Of Its Theaters Will Reopen By July

As the COVID-19 global pandemic continues to shut down thousands of movie theaters in the U.S, AMC Entertainment has just reported a $2.2 billion loss in its first quarter.

It seems as though AMC borrowed way too much money for their own good, and spent a good deal of it buying up other movie chains. They were having losses when revenues were flooding in. Now that revenues dropped completely due to the pandemic, interest must be killing them. They probably face major bankruptcy at this point, and individual theaters sold off to their competition, if theaters don’t fully reopen soon.

CEO Adam Aron said in a statement that he expects business to gradually return this summer when blockbusters such as “Tenet” and “Mulan” come out on July 17 and July 24. Amidst all of this, is the question as to whether or not these films could actually open, especially if major markets such as New York City and Los Angeles continue to remain closed, but Aron suggested that the films were on track to make their release dates. In fact, Aron is so confident with moviegoers’ appetite to go back to the cinema that he expects people will want to get out of their homes in droves after months of social distancing:

“There will be significant pent-up demand to get back out into the world,” said Aron, noting that there would still be setbacks. “The waters will be choppy. There may be unforeseen tosses and turns to be navigated through.”

As AMC seems to be in financial jeopardy, there is the inevitable rush to reopen as fast as possible. Of course, none of this can happen without governors of each state allowing movie theaters to operate at semi or full capacity and with the strictest of COVID-19 guidelines. Of course, a lot of people are going to pass on going to theaters until there is a vaccine. Also, wearing a mask for 2-3 hours when you can easily sit at home and not worry about getting sick will probably be a better option for many. I’ll attend a “Tenet” press screening, if it ever occurs, but it will be hard to enjoy watching a movie in a theater with a mask on, whenever I wear those damn things my glasses start to fog up.