AMC Entertainment reiterated its commitment
to stay open and cited a slew of upcoming new
releases that it will be playing, including this
weekend’s new films “The War With Grandpa,”
with Robert De Niro, and “Yellow Rose.” Roughly
80% of its U.S. locations are currently open.
With the recent exit of the next James Bond film,
that leaves a mere handful of big films set to still
open in 2020: Pixar’s “Soul,” on Nov. 20, Universal’s
“The Croods: A New Age,” on Nov. 25, Disney’s
“Death on the Nile,” on Dec. 18 and Warner Bros.’
“Wonder Woman 1984,” at Christmas. It’s an extra
hit to the ailing theatrical industry, which endured
six months of closures and has had a difficult time
restarting business during the pandemic with key
markets like New York still closed and an ever-
changing release calendar.
Universal Studios announced that the latest
entry in the “Jurassic Park” series, “Jurassic World:
Dominion,” is being pushed back a year until
June 2022.
Business has been so shaky that Cineworld
Group Plc said it would temporarily close its
536 Regal cinema locations in the U.S. and 127
Cineworld and Picturehouse venues in the UK.
And last week leading groups representing
movie theaters, movie studios and directors
issued a dire plea to Congress for financial help
for cinemas. They said nearly 70% of small and
mid-size theaters could face bankruptcy or
closure without assistance.
AMC CEO Adam Aron said in a statement that
the company’s agreement with Universal
Pictures to shorten the theatrical window,
“puts AMC in a position where we can open our
theatres when others may feel the need to close.”