More bad news for movie theaters today, as AMC Theatres says its current cash stores will be “largely depleted” by the end of 2020 or early 2021 if this shit show continues. And unfortunately, this shit show doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon. According to CNN, AMC says a “reduced movie slate for the fourth quarter” combined with a steep decrease in ticket sales has put the company on track to run out of money over the next several months. Theaters were allowed to reopen at reduced capacity over the summer following a shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the implementation of new and increased safety measures, AMC experienced an 85% decrease in attendance compared to last year. As of now, AMC says the only way it can avoid going broke is by finding new lenders or a significant increase in ticket sales.
Other options, such as mortgage and rent renegotiations, refinancing, and liquidating assets, are being explored but AMC is reasonably doubtful that these measures will keep them afloat in the longterm. “There is a significant risk that these potential sources of liquidity will not be realized or that they will be insufficient to generate the material amounts of additional liquidity that would be required until the company is able to achieve more normalized levels of operating revenues,” said a rep for the company.
Just last week, Cineworld Group, which owns and operates hundreds of Regal Cinemas theaters in the U.S., announced that it would close all of its locations here and in the U.K.