AMC Theatres pledges to stay open despite blockbuster film delays amid pandemic

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- AMC Theatres, the largest U.S. movie theater chain with Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group owning a majority stake, pledged Tuesday to stay open despite delays of blockbuster films amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

AMC said in a statement that it's currently planning for all of its theatres that are now open to remain open for business.

According to the company, more than 80 percent of its theatres in the United States are currently open and it's actively planning to open more theaters, especially in New York and California, when authorized to do so by state and county officials.

AMC said that there are many new movie titles to be released in October and November, including "The War With Grandpa," "Yellow Rose," "Honest Thief," "2 Hearts," and "The Empty Man."

"Some of our best partners like Disney, with its much anticipated 'Soul,' and Universal with 'The Croods: A New Age,' have new movies scheduled for theatrical release over the next month and a half," AMC CEO and President Adam Aron said in the statement.

"Warner Bros.' 'Tenet' has been stimulating moviegoers and is still leading the box office. And this weekend, 'The War With Grandpa,' a new movie title starring the legendary Robert De Niro, will be prominent all across the U.S. on the big screens of AMC," he added.

"Fortunately for AMC, our groundbreaking agreement with Universal Studios announced earlier this summer puts AMC in a position where we can open our theatres when others may feel the need to close. We are fully comfortable showing Universal films in our theaters, even as they implement premium video on demand as we have mutually agreed. This is because AMC will share in premium revenues coming from their early availability in the home," Aron noted.

AMC Theatres' announcement comes one day after Regal's British parent company Cineworld decided to temporarily close all of its U.S. and U.K. locations amid pandemic. Regal Cinemas is the second-largest theater chain in the United States.

Theater owners and operators face uncertain futures as many blockbuster films have been pushed back to 2021 and 2022. Their hope of rebound was dashed as it was announced last week that the latest James Bond film, among other tentpoles, would be further delayed until April 2021. Warner Bros. announced Monday a number of delays of major films, including "The Batman," "Dune" and "The Matrix 4."

AMC, Regal and other major U.S. theater chains suffered financial hardship amid the pandemic. AMC, the largest movie exhibition company throughout the world with approximately 1,000 theatres and 11,000 screens across the globe, reported earlier this year a net loss of 561 million U.S. dollars in the second quarter due to the pandemic. The company's total revenue in the quarter ending June 30 fell 98.7 percent to 18.9 million dollars from 15.06 billion dollars a year ago.