As Deadline’s Tom Tapp reported last week, Los Angeles County isn’t quite ready to join other parts of California and the nation at large in allowing movie theaters to reopen, even with restrictions. So the coronavirus-beset movie capital remains closed to indoor movies. Which isn’t entirely bad. It buys some time, at least, to figure
AMC
On today’s earnings call for the No. 1 financially challenged exhibitor AMC, CEO Adam Aron took the high road in not damning Disney for their recent seisimic-shifting choice to take Mulan to Disney+ instead of theaters where the streaming service is available. “You might thing I’m disappointed that Mulan is moving, but AMC has no bigger friend
Cinemark CEO Mark Zoradi weighed in this morning on all the noise that Universal and AMC stirred up last week with their plan to crunch the theatrical window to 17 days. “Consistent with our past practices, Cinemark does not comment on the actions of our competitors. That said we believe an exclusive theatrical window is critically
The hope for NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell in the studio’s new unprecedented 17-day theatrical window collapse-PVOD deal with AMC Theatres is to make more money in the post theatrical windows which have waned in recent years. “Movies are our lifeblood,” said the NBCUniversal pro-PVOD exec, “Over the last couple of years, it’s become more increasingly
EXCLUSIVE: Those in town assuming that one of the other big exhibition circuits will fall in line with AMC and seek their own 17-day theatrical window-PVOD deal with Universal will soon realize that it will be a cold day in hell. Cineworld CEO Mooky Greidinger, who oversees the world’s second largest chain, exclusively tells Deadline
EXCLUSIVE: We have just received word that No. 2 film exhibitor Regal Cinemas is requiring all patrons to wear face masks. In an updated policy today on the chain’s website, “As related to our employees, guests will also be required to wear masks. Disposable masks will be made available as needed,” noted Regal. The chain’s
Alamo Drafthouse will be requiring all its moviegoers, coast to coast, to wear masks to its theaters. “When we open, the safety of our teammates and guests cannot be compromised. This is not political,” the chain said in a statement Friday on Twitter. “We will require that guests wear masks at the theater (except when
In the wake of making controversial statements yesterday about AMC not mandating face masks in those parts of the country that aren’t requiring it during the COVID-19 pandemic, CEO Adam Aron, having heard the social media backlash, on Friday changed the chain’s policy and is now requiring patrons to wear masks whether local ordinances require
AMC has made official their U.S. reopening plans after what will be a four-month shutdown due to COVID-19 with 450 U.S. locations on July 15, roughly 150 remaining locations in time for Disney’s Mulan on July 24 and Warner Bros. Tenet on July 31. AMC will have opened their locations over four internal phases. In
AMC Entertainment stock jumped over 15% at open in a down market Wednesday at open after execs outlined global opening plans at a conference call late yesterday afternoon. Share had popped by over 17% in premarket trade. It’s been a roller coaster – mostly down – for AMC shares since the coronavirus pandemic forced it
Some good news here, especially on the AMC Theatres front. The Leawood, Kansas-based chain–the No. 1 circuit in U.S and Europe–is reopening three Odeon Cinemas in Norway effective today. Odeon Cinemas Oslo Storo 14, Sandvika 8 and Lillestrøm 7 are the first three locations within the AMC and Odeon cinemas circuit to reopen, and its
Beginning Sunday, May 31, AMC will air Quiz, a three-part drama from writer James Graham and director Stephen Frears detailing the meteoric rise of Britain’s Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and the stunning cheating scandal that threatened to tear it down. With clever writing, an excellent cast, and inspired direction, Quiz propels you through
Broadway theaters aren’t expected to reopen up in New York City for quite a long time, Deadline sources saying not before 2021. And according to New York State governor’s recent reopening phase plan, indoor cinemas are in the same final phase 4 classification as Broadway theaters, entertainment venues, museums and arts and recreation businesses. Yikes.
Days after Jeff Shell’s statements in the Wall Street Journal spurred AMC boss Adam Aron to embargo the studio’s films, the NBCUniversal CEO acknowledged the company’s commitment to theatrical, but that PVOD will still be part of the equation. “The question is when we come out of this (pandemic), what is going to be the model?
Not to deflate the rousing round robin of mudslinging between AMC, Cineworld and Universal, but this whole OMG melee between exhibition and studios over PVOD, theatrical-window crunching and hurt feelings is poised to calm down soon. Some industry insiders believe the situation has already eased, and the statements made Thursday morning on Comcast’s Q1 earnings
EXCLUSIVE: Following yesterday’s flurry of dramatic exchanges involving AMC, the National Association of Theatre Owners and Universal, Regal Entertainment owner Cineworld Group has now added its voice to the chorus of windows controversy surrounding Trolls World Tour. The world’s second biggest circuit says its policy with respect to the window “is clear, well known in
AMC boss Adam Aron has just fired off a letter to Universal Studios Chairman Donna Langley in response to NBC Universal CEO Jeff Shell’s statements in the Wall Street Journal this morning about the $95M PVOD success of Trolls World Tour. As Aron explains to Langley in the letter (read it below), he initially got it:
Universal has responded to AMC boss Adam Aron’s note tonight to Universal Studios Chairman Donna Langley in which he told the studio that the chain won’t be playing their titles at their global venues. Essentially Uni says they “absolutely believe in the theatrical experience and made no statement to the contrary.” But… “As we stated
Despite Texas Gov. Greg Abbott permitting movie theaters to re-open on May 1 in his state numbering nearly 30 million, big movies chains like AMC and Cinemark, which is located in Plano, TX, are still eyeing mid-summer re-opening, not only out of safety, but also due to the lack of new, fresh studio content. Abbott
China’s Dalian Wanda Group has issued a statement regarding its AMC Entertainment, calling speculation about the chain filing for bankruptcy “pure rumors.” This comes after an S&P Global report last week forecasted AMC’s depletion of cash by mid-summer and its potential inability to re-open by June, and as chatter has swirled about a possible Chapter
In the wake of a S&P Global report that forecasted AMC Entertainment’s depletion of cash by mid-summer and its potential inability to re-open by June, media reports have already written the chain’s obituary. But hold on one moment. While distribution and rival exhibition sources wouldn’t be shocked if AMC files Chapter 11 in the near
With the closure of movie theaters nationwide out of safety during the coronavirus, layoffs have been rampant, however, the big three exhibitors have been contending with these atrocious times in varying degrees of severity. Word began to spread last week among distribution folks that Regal had been the most acerbic out of the three chains
Despite Senate Democrats blocking the near $2 trillion stimulus package intended to rescue the U.S. economy during the coronavirus crisis, the National Association of Theatre Owners chief John Fithian is “hopeful” that a bipartisan compromise will be reached in the near future. “They’re not at an impasse,” Fithian told Deadline Sunday. “This is just part
Includes charts of the 2020 domestic box office standings to date, as well as final charts for the weekend of March 13-15 and Monday “For all intents and purposes, the industry is shut down” screamed one studio boss tonight about the state of exhibition, “What’s left that’s open?” With Cinemark shutting down tomorrow, the last
BREAKING: The largest theatrical exhibition company in the United States announced tonight that effective tomorrow, Tuesday, March 17, all 630 AMC locations in the country will close for at least six to 12 weeks, in compliance with local, state and federal directives, and as a precaution to help ensure the health and safety of moviegoers
What we’re about to inform you about cannot be read into as an indication of long-term trends, or even short-term. The state of exhibition and the domestic box office is changing by the hour in the current coronavirus climate and by tomorrow or even before next Friday we could be looking at a different theatrical
This is a busy week full of premieres, and at a time the world is crumbling, well, we need premieres! And just to ensure that politics are never far out of reach, these premieres run the gambit of the political spectrum. There is a documentary about fake news, alternate history addressing the treatment of Jews