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AMC Theaters has entered into a formal agreement with Warner Bros. to show the studio’s 2022 slate on the big screen for an exclusive 45-day window.
The news is not surprising, as Warner Bros. has been implementing a similar plan with Cineworld, the owner of Regal Cinemas, since April. However, the announcement is heartwarming for film operators, who feared the pandemic could mark the end of the theaters window, the period in which films are only available in theaters. Many of the biggest movies released since the start of COVID-19 have aired simultaneously on streaming services, such as HBO Max and Disney Plus, which is a departure from the pre-plague era.
During the company’s quarterly earnings call, AMC announced that by the end of the year, it will be accepting bitcoin payments for tickets and concessions. The company is also developing the technology to accept Apple Pay and Google Pay by 2022. The decision to adopt cryptocurrency is a nod to the new base of young retail investors that AMC has attracted in recent months. because it was adopted as a stock of memes. The company’s shares surged, propelled by populist sentiment rather than financial data. As a nod to this new reality, AMC has rocked its earnings call, choosing to answer questions from its larger investor base and sparing only a few minutes for analysts who follow the company closely.
Some of AMC CEO Adam Aron’s remarks seemed designed to excite his new shareholders, such as when he pitched the idea that the exhibitor could partner with GameStop to host events for gamers. GameStop has also seen its stocks rise as investors have championed its cause, bought stocks and fought off short sellers.
“We’re on the case,” Aron said. “More soon.” He later noted that “it takes two to tango” and said that although AMC has not yet contacted the company, “we intend to do so.”
Armed with fresh capital, Aron said AMC was back on the offensive. He said the company could add at least 10 new sites to its circuit, eight of which are leases formerly operated by Pacific Theaters. Last month, AMC took over two of the closed chain’s most popular sites, The Grove in Los Angeles and Americana at Brand in Glendale. The new locations include other California venues, as well as theaters in Chicago and Atlanta.
Aron said it was “no secret that AMC was not happy” when Warner Bros. has announced that all of its 2021 films, a list ranging from “Space Jam: A New Legacy” and “Dune” to “The Matrix 4,” will be released simultaneously. on HBO Max, the company’s budding streaming service. Executives of Warner Bros. maintained that it was a “one-year” concession to the pandemic and that the studio would revert to keeping its films exclusively in theaters in 2022.
“It’s especially gratifying that Warner Bros. embraces a theatrical window once again,” said Aron. “For us at AMC, it’s especially nice to work so seamlessly with Warner Bros. once again. “
Aron added: “We are in active dialogue with all the major studios on this subject. We hear tremendous support that an exclusive cinema window is an important way to build a blockbuster movie franchise. “
It has been a difficult time for the film industry, which is struggling to emerge from the pandemic. So far, the domestic box office has been a mixed bag with COVID-era hits like “A Quiet Place Part II” and “F9: The Fast Saga,” as well as commercial disappointments such as “Snake Eyes. And “Space Jam: A New Legacy.”
At the onset of the public health crisis, AMC was forced to shut down all of its sites around the world and lay off or lay off thousands of employees. As COVID-19 raged, the company appeared to be on the verge of bankruptcy at several points. However, AMC was able to survive by renegotiating its debt. For months, AMC has also capitalized on the Internet frenzy surrounding its “meme action” status, which has driven its stock price to an all-time high.
In the second quarter of 2021, AMC saw improvements, with revenue reaching $ 444.7 million, up from $ 18.9 million a year ago. At the same time, its losses declined: AMC recorded a net loss of $ 344 million, down from the $ 561.2 million in losses in the same frame in 2020. The exhibition company recorded a net loss of 71 cents per share, an improvement from $ 5.38. per share compared to the same period last year.
The theater sector has suffered some setbacks. Recent releases like “The Suicide Squad” and “Jungle Cruise” have debuted with disappointing results and consumer confidence is shaky due to the spread of the delta variant. Aron acknowledged that public health experts believed the virus would see a further increase in cases in the winter, but predicted that increasing vaccination rates will ensure that the movie industry does not see its popularity decline.
“We won’t see the kind of corporate lockdown this winter that we saw last winter,” he predicted.
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