Summer blockbusters like “Deadpool & Wolverine” and “Twisters” weren’t enough to keep AMC Entertainment from posting a $20.7 million loss during its most recent quarter. The compared unfavorably to the $12.3 million in profit that the country’s largest theater chain posted in the year-ago period.
At the same time, revenue at AMC fell 4.1% to $1.3 billion, down from the $1.4 billion that AMC reported in the year-ago period, which saw the dual releases of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” a double-billing that turbocharged the box office and led to the “Barbenheimer” meme. The company reported a loss per-share of 7 cents, compared to earnings of 8 cents in the year-ago quarter.
Attendance at the theater chain also declined, dropping from 73.6 million to 65.1 million on the weaker slate of films. Admissions revenue dropped from $798 million to $744.2 million, but revenue from concessions grew from $482.7 million to $490.4 million.
Other films released during the three-month period ending in September included “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” and “Alien: Romulus.” AMC chief Adam Aron has been publicly bullish on the health of the movie business, noting that next year will see the release of sequels to popular franchises such as “Jurassic World,” “Mission: Impossible,” “Captain America,” and “Avatar.”
“Admittedly, some of our third quarter metrics of 2024 were behind those of last year. However, we
believe of much greater importance is our bullishness about the impressive movie slate that is coming to our theatres in November and December of 2024, and continuing in 2025 and again in 2026,” Aron said in a statement. “Based on what we know now, we expect that the industry-wide box office should markedly rise at year-end and rise yet again for the next two years.”
More to come…
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