AMC Theatres (AMC) is on a rocky road to recovery. The theater chain first lost billions of dollars in revenue in 2020 after the Covid pandemic forced the company to close down thousands of its theaters for months, resulting in multiple layoffs.
Just as the company got back on its feet after the pandemic, it suffered another major blow. In 2023, Hollywood faced two massive monthslong strikes from industry writers and actors, which further drained AMC’s pockets as multiple film productions came to a screeching halt.
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Even after both strikes ended late last year, AMC is still picking up the pieces of the damage and hoping major film releases will help recover its financial losses.
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AMC CEO Adam Aron revealed during a recent earnings call that during the third quarter of 2024, the company saw some success from film releases such as “Deadpool and Wolverine,” which was released in theaters on July 26. The movie topped the domestic box office during the quarter, garnering over $636 million.
He also stated that films such as “Despicable Me 4,” “Twisters,” and “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” also strengthened the box office and helped to boost the company’s performance during the quarter.
“On a per day basis, the domestic industry wide box office was 82% stronger between mid-June and end September than it was in 2024 prior to June 14,” said Aron during the call.
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AMC struggles with shrinking movie theater attendance
But despite the success of those recent film releases, AMC still faced a decline in attendance. In the U.S., movie theater attendance shrunk by almost 9% year-over-year during the quarter.
The company also faced a roughly 4% year-over-year decline in total revenues and a net loss of $20.7 million, compared to the $12.3 million in net earnings it generated during the same time period in 2023.
During the earnings call, Aron claimed that some of the film releases during the third quarter failed to boost attendance in vital urban areas across the country.
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“In our domestic business, the films slate in Q3 2024 skewed in attendance away from the major urban centers such as New York and Los Angeles where AMC has our largest presence,” said Aron. “This was particularly evident with titles such as Twisters, Despicable Me and Beetlejuice.”
While attendance declined, AMC’s average ticket price for films in the U.S. during the third quarter slightly increased compared to the same time period last year. On average, tickets were sold for $12.19 during the third quarter, which is about 6% higher than the average price during the same quarter in 2023.
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Regardless of recent setbacks, Aron is hopeful that upcoming film releases such as “Mufasa: The Lion King,” “Moana 2,” and “Wicked,” which are all set to be released during the fourth quarter of this year, will help significantly drive up attendance at AMC theaters.
“We anticipate that the Q4, 2024 domestic box office will emphatically surpass last year's Q4 results,” said Aron.
He also believes that upcoming films that are set to be released in 2025 will exceed box office numbers in 2024.
“It is AMC's belief that the 2025, domestic industry box office should easily surpass that of 2024, with bankable titles hitting our theaters next year, such as Paramount's Mission: Impossible 8, Universal's Jurassic World 4, and Disney's Captain America, Snow White, the new Thunderbolts, and of course Avatar 3, as just some of the big movies coming next year,” said Aron.
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