AMC Theaters Future In Doubt?

[HarleyQuinn]

Pretty big news if they can't mount a comeback and keep theaters open. I really like one the nearby as it's an easy drive and the AMC Stubs thing has been fantastic.

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

"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 believe we have the cash resources to reopen our theatres and resume our operations this summer or later," AMC said. "Our liquidity needs thereafter will depend, among other things, on the timing of a full resumption of operations, the timing of movie releases and our ability to generate revenues."

With all the bigger name movies being pushed much farther back, who knows how that will impact AMC's ability to maintain a consistent enough revenue to bounce back in the short term.

 

[RedJed]

I wonder if they will keep doing the A-List program. I have almost exclusively only gone to AMC theaters due to that membership, although I also subscribed to the Cinemark Movie Club as well.

In any regard, I wish theaters would really open up again. In these stressful and anxious times, a trip to the theater to catch a few movies on a random day is something I greatly miss for many reasons.

Hoping things start resuming by the end of the month for most theaters, it seems attainable. I would be fully open to going to movies under whatever rules are implemented. Hell, I'd even wear a mask for the entire film if that's what it would take.

Anyhow, I hope AMC continues onward and can make things work, I'd hate to see them go out of business as they are the best chain IMO in terms of how they present films with different options like IMAX, Dolby, etc. If by chance they do go under, I am sure another chain will step up and buy out most, if not all, of their locations.

 

[RedJed]

Here's a question as well......when should theaters realistically re-open, if states lift those restrictions?

It's a hard call especially when new films will be released because of this variable situation per state. Because of that, I worry that any new films won't be nationally rolled out until even at the earliest, July maybe?

The only distributor I have heard that's continued to move forward on any level is IFC, and they have been trying to get their films into drive-ins. Otherwise, we have Universal pushing more into an on-demand environment.

I don't know the answer but I tend to think that studios should all meet with the main theater chains and discuss a win/win strategy for the summer at least in which films may get released into theaters, but at the same time they offer the on-demand option for perhaps a pricetag that will kind of be more theater friendly. Example, putting a hefty pricetag like $30-$40 a film to watch at home versus theaters charging $10 a person or such.

 

[Baby Shoes]

Some theatres are aiming to open in July to show Tenat and a few other films. There’s also rumors of some places screening classic movies as a means to get revenue.

I got an email that one of the big standup venues is opening so I’m sure we will see some misguided attempts at reopening theatres.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

I don't know the answer but I tend to think that studios should all meet with the main theater chains and discuss a win/win strategy for the summer at least in which films may get released into theaters, but at the same time they offer the on-demand option for perhaps a pricetag that will kind of be more theater friendly. Example, putting a hefty pricetag like $30-$40 a film to watch at home versus theaters charging $10 a person or such.

Problem is that the on-demand option is done through the streaming services (e.g. Amazon, Hulu, Netflix) and cable companies for their on-demand selections (Cox, Verizon, etc.) so the movie theaters have basically no say in that and is a large reason why they got pissed at the Trolls World Tour movie completely bypassing any theater release. Studios/Distributors basically cut out the theater middle man in that scenario, letting them get more of the actual profits.

 

[Baby Shoes]

I don't know the answer but I tend to think that studios should all meet with the main theater chains and discuss a win/win strategy for the summer at least in which films may get released into theaters, but at the same time they offer the on-demand option for perhaps a pricetag that will kind of be more theater friendly. Example, putting a hefty pricetag like $30-$40 a film to watch at home versus theaters charging $10 a person or such.

Problem is that the on-demand option is done through the streaming services (e.g. Amazon, Hulu, Netflix) and cable companies for their on-demand selections (Cox, Verizon, etc.) so the movie theaters have basically no say in that and is a large reason why they got pissed at the Trolls World Tour movie completely bypassing any theater release. Studios/Distributors basically cut out the theater middle man in that scenario, letting them get more of the actual profits.

And I haven’t read into it in a while but the profit structure is based on longevity of the film too. New releases have a higher percentage that goes to the studio versus the movie that has been there for 10 weeks. So if studios yank new releases or pull stuff from theatres sooner, that’s less profit for the theatre who want you to come at the end of the run because they get more money - and also part of the reason for concession markup where they make the bulk of their money.

 

[King Kamala]

I'm having a hard time imagining a scenario where movie theaters don't become a niche/only in major cities type thing in the next 10 years now that studios have found a way to bypass theater chains completely.

 

[Baby Shoes]

I have a hard time seeing them only being relegated to most major cities as there is still a section that will recognize the difference in the cinematic experience. It will definitely minimize the amount of chains but I can’t see it getting pared down to only major cities.

 

[Laz]

I'm in favor of them becoming a niche offering, honestly. Maybe have the studios own their own theaters for the big blockbuster types, and let smaller locations deal with independent or cult features. The best theatrical experiences I've had have been when the crowd is really, really into a movie, so turning it into more of a shared experience commodity could actually prove fruitful for smaller chains.

 

[909]

Trolls World Tour didn’t make a profit though. I was told they will either lose a few million or break even, which isn’t good at all considering the producing company was planning on having this movie boost their budget.

 

[Baby Shoes]

Yeah, Trolls started hot, which was when the hype started but then nothing after that. I haven’t heard what happened with Scooby Doo and wouldn’t expect much for the Pete Davidson movie coming up.

With Trolls and Scoob, both of those had all kinds of tie-in toys and other things that probably got hurt in all this pandemic as well.

I think the business suffers as I’m a movie person that probably will wait a while before feeling comfortable going back. AMC is kinda like Pier One and these other places that were hurting before this started and will probably be a victim but I think this may be a shift toward more smaller scale chains.

 

[Epic Springs]

I don't make it to the theater nearly as much as I used to but I absolutely want movie theaters to still be a thing in the next 10 years on a somewhat large scale. Most of what I go out of my way to watch are indie flicks these days and I try to avoid opening weekend of any major release but chains like AMC and Regal should have their place in American culture.

Christopher Nolan seems pretty confident and adamant about theaters re-opening in time for Tenet's release so I definitely see things opening back up early July.

 

[fazzle]

If AMC opens back up and tries to remove the A-List program, they're shooting themselves in the foot. Those are the people who are going to be most likely to be willing to go to theaters early on, and cutting them off would cut off a lot of concession revenue. They may try to slowly roll back the benefits and/or jack up the price to where it isn't cost effective for a lot of people, but removing it entirely upon reopening would be a real bad, short sighted move.


Also to reiterate what was said in the other thread, theaters didn't get mad at the Trolls streaming release. There have been a lot of theatrical releases that were pulled from having a theatrical releases thanks to COVID-19 that didn't raise any kind of ire. They got mad at Universal saying it did well enough for them that all future movies would be released simultaneously in both theaters and on streaming, bypassing the largely agreed upon 90 day (90? or is it 60?) exclusivity window for theaters.