Will movie theaters be a thing of the past?

03 June 2020, 07:02 PM

quote:
The world’s largest movie theater chain said Wednesday it has “substantial doubt” it can remain in business after shuttering all of its locations during the coronavirus pandemic.

In April, AMC Theaters said a new debt offering would allow the company to withstand these closures until a partial reopening ahead of Thanksgiving. However, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission the company disclosed concerns about liquidity, its ability to generate revenue and the timeline of reopening its theaters.

In that filing, AMC released preliminary earnings results. The theater chain expects to have lost $2.1 billion to $2.4 billion in the first quarter ended March 31. It will release its earnings on Tuesday.

AMC also revealed that its revenue had fallen to $941.5 million, a nearly 22% drop from the $1.2 billion it garnered in the same quarter last year. The second quarter is expected to be even worse.

“We are generating effectively no revenue,” the company said in its filing.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/0...avirus-shutdown.html

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We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. - Australian Aboriginal proverb

Bazootiehead-in-training

03 June 2020, 07:04 PM

ShiroKuro

I can't imagine going to a movie in a theater anytime soon.

It's a shame too. Will movies be made differently if they will *never* be shown in a theater?

04 June 2020, 12:50 AM

Steve Miller

quote:
Originally posted by ShiroKuro:

I can't imagine going to a movie in a theater anytime soon.

It's a shame too. Will movies be made differently if they will *never* be shown in a theater?

Most movies are already made that way, which explains why there are so many of them and why most of them are terrible.

04 June 2020, 08:28 AM

jodi

I haven’t been to a movie theater in years.

04 June 2020, 09:07 AM

QuirtEvans

Mary Anna and I used to go to movie theaters regularly.

Unless the experience is modified, I doubt we'll be going again any time soon.

04 June 2020, 09:22 AM

rontuner

The last few times we went to the movies, there were only a few other people in the theater, so we were social distancing before it was popular!

04 June 2020, 11:14 AM

Nina

We aren't big fans of Hollywood blockbuster type moves, with a few exceptions. As a result, we tend to favor smaller, non-chain or small chain theaters. I can't imagine how they will survive, if the "bigs" can't make it. On the other hand, it's also possible that their overhead is lower, and their core audience perhaps more dedicated.

I don't know how many of the movies that are shown there will get any viewership, though. They often have little advertising, and we've been known to just read the blurbs of what's showing at our favorite theater and just go on a whim. We'd have never heard of the movie had it not been showing in the first place.

One of life's great joys, imo, is finding and thoroughly enjoying a little-known movie or documentary. I've had that experience with a lot of the recommendations from WTF, for what it's worth. That's how I heard about "The Queen of Versailles," which I loved.

12 June 2020, 02:53 PM

Qaanaaq-Liaaq

And it doesn’t just affect movie theaters but also opera houses, concert halls, and other venues where there are large groups of people gathering.

I used to think cell phone users during movies would help cause the demise of commercial movie theaters. It looks like viruses will do it instead. I don’t what theaters are going to do. Everyone wear masks? Everyone must sit at least six feet away from anyone else? Plastic vertical partitions between seats? It looks like it’s going to be a brave new world for theaters.

12 June 2020, 03:52 PM

With so many with large TVs, why go to a movie theatre?
I haven't gone in a few years and went this past winter.
The experience was horrid. Music too loud early on. Movie too loud, had to pull my sweater over my ears.

Hated the ads/previews , was there to watch a movie, not 15 minutes of too loud previews.

Would rather watch the movie at home.

And you?

12 June 2020, 03:53 PM

Maybe drive ins will return...

12 June 2020, 10:25 PM

Axtremus

Watching on a tablet is best.

No need to change out of my pajamas, no need to drive, can watch anywhere, can pause anytime, can often skip over any boring part, can replay the interesting parts, can watch in just about any posture.

I don’t need 3-D (makes me dizzy), I don’t need fancy sound systems, HD is good enough.

Objectively, I don’t see the theater or drive-in experience beating that. The only obstacle is many producers/distributors do not make new titles available on streaming platforms until well after their theatrical premieres.