AMC Theatres
AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (doing business as AMC Theatres, originally an abbreviation for American Multi-Cinema; often referred to simply as AMC and known in some countries as AMC Cinemas or AMC Multi-Cinemas) is an American movie theater chain founded in Kansas City, Missouri, and now headquartered in Leawood, Kansas. It is the largest movie theater chain in the world. Founded in 1920, AMC has the largest share of the U.S. theater market ahead of Regal and Cinemark Theatres.
This article is about the American movie theater chain. For the cable television channel operator of the same name, see AMC Networks. For other uses, see AMC (disambiguation).AMC Theatres
Dubinsky Bros. (1920–31, 1932–39)
Publix-Dubinsky Bros. (1931–32)
Durwood-Dubinsky Bros. (1939–47)
Durwood Theatres (1947–68)
American Royal Cinemas (1968–69)
American Multi Cinema (1969–80)
- NYSE: AMC (Class A)
- Russell 1000 component
1920 in Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
- Edward Durwood
- Maurice Dubinsky
- Barney Dubinsky
898 theaters and 10,059 screens
US$4.81 billion (2023)
US$−0.07 billion (2023)
US$−0.39 billion (2023)
US$9.00 billion (2023)
US$−1.84 billion (2023)
Adam Aron (0.23%)[1]
33,812 (December 2023)
- AMC Entertainment, Inc.
- AMC Loews
- Fork & Screen Dine-In Theatres
- The Café at AMC
- AMC Cinema Suites
- AMC Red Kitchen
- Screenvision (20%)
- Odeon Cinemas
- UCI Cinemas (except in Brazil)
- Starplex Cinemas Eastwynn Theatres, Inc.
- George G. Kerasotes Corporation
- GKC Indiana Theatres, Inc.
- Michigan Theatres, Inc.
- GKC Theatres, Inc.
- Military Services, Inc.
- Nordic Cinema Group
After acquiring Odeon Cinemas, UCI Cinemas, and Carmike Cinemas in 2016, it became the largest movie theater chain in the world.[4] It has 2,807 screens in 353 European theatres and 7,755 screens in 593 American theatres.[3][5]
The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange; from 2012 to 2018, the Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group owned a majority stake in the company. Private equity firm Silver Lake Partners made a $600 million investment in AMC in September 2018, but the voting power of AMC shares was structured so that Wanda Group still controlled the majority of AMC's board of directors.
Amid financial downturns caused by the COVID-19 lockdowns, in January 2021, Wanda's ownership was increasingly diluted due to new financing by AMC, as well as short squeezes that resulted in Silver Lake converting its $600 million debt holding to equity. In early-February 2021, Wanda converted its Class B shares to Class A shares, thus reducing its voting power to less than 50%.
Other endeavors[edit]
AMC also formed a short-lived partnership with Planet Hollywood that failed due to that company's bankruptcy. The Planet Movies by AMC venture planned to open complexes worldwide with the objective of having icon locations in major metropolitan and other select areas, like Orlando and Columbus. Initially, seven existing, unnamed AMC megaplex theaters with more than 150 combined screens were to be re-branded under a license arrangement to incorporate certain elements of the new concept. The initial seven re-branded locations were to include markets such as Orlando, Florida. The AMC Pleasure Island 24 megaplex in Orlando, situated directly across from Planet Hollywood's most successful restaurant and retail unit and adjacent to Disney's Pleasure Island (now Disney Springs) was to be the first Planet Movies location.
After the initial seven, the joint-venture planned to own and operate all subsequent units including 8 to 10 complexes with 200 to 250 screens planned to open over the next 18 to 24 months. Over the longer term, the venture anticipated rolling out units at the rate of 5 to 10 per year. From almost the very start, the well-publicized financial strains on Planet Hollywood hindered the project. The only Planet Movies location to actually open, a 30 screen megaplex, did so in the summer of 1999 at Easton Town Center in Columbus, Ohio. The location was also located alongside an Official All Star Café and Planet Hollywood restaurant.
The continued poor financial performance of Planet Hollywood led the company to declare bankruptcy in December 1998, and even before the first location had opened stated that "the joint venture has no definitive plans to expand this concept once the Columbus site is completed". As Planet Hollywood was preparing to emerge from bankruptcy in October 1999 their re-organization plan emphasized focus back on their core restaurant business and away from side-ventures like Planet Movies and their Cool Planet ice cream chain. The Planet Hollywood restaurant and All Star Café in Columbus were closed in late 2000, and the film memorabilia were also removed from the theater as it was rebranded AMC Easton 30, and continues to operate. The Planet Movies by AMC joint venture was formally dissolved on January 9, 2001.
Both of the Disney Parks in the United States at one time included AMC movie theaters at their Downtown Disney sections: AMC Dine-In Disney Springs 24 all-stadium-seating megaplex with Dolby Cinema and Dine-In Theatres (opened in 1996) (formerly AMC Pleasure Island 24) at Walt Disney World Resort and AMC Downtown Disney 12 at Disneyland Resort stadium-seating multiplex (opened in 2001, closed in 2018). The AMC Citywalk Stadium 19 located on Universal Studios Hollywood's CityWalk was relaunched after a renovation as "Universal Cinema, an AMC Theatre", on April 21, 2017. This location includes a seven-story IMAX screen with IMAX Laser and IMAX 70mm film, as well as "Black Box"–inspired auditoriums. It has one Christie Laser Projector per auditorium, with Dolby Atmos speakers.[119] At Universal Studios Florida, AMC had the Universal Cineplex 20 (also a former Cineplex Odeon), until September 2018 when it became a Cinemark.[120][121][122]
AMC Independent (also known as AMCi) is an AMC film distribution program that aims to help independent films reach a theatrical audience. The program was announced in 2010 via the AMC Blog,[123] and has been responsible for promoting and distributing all independent films to AMC theaters since.[124][125][126]
In July 2021, AMC Theatres partnered with American artist Chance the Rapper and his content production company House of Kicks in a trailblazing international distribution agreement to bring his concert film Magnificent Coloring World to cinemas internationally, marking the first time an individual recording artist distributed a film through AMC.[127] This deal was revisited in 2023 when AMC partnered with Taylor Swift and Beyoncé to release their respective concert films Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour and Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé. In all three cases, AMC acted as both the distributor and exhibitor of the films, bypassing the involvement of major film studios.[128][129]
In January 2022, AMC Theatres started selling popcorn via food delivery, before entering supermarkets, in order to compensate for the COVID-19 pandemic-induced downturn in movie theaters.[130][131]
In March 2022, AMC Theatres acquired a 22% share in Hycroft Mining, a gold and silver mining company in Nevada, which had also been experiencing a major liquidity crisis in the prior year.[131]
Controversies[edit]
The early versions of stadium-style seating as built by AMC in 1995 had auditoriums configured with an entrance to a flat area immediately in front of the screen for wheelchair users. People seated there had to either lean back or look up at an uncomfortable angle to see the screen. Able-bodied guests had to ascend the stairs to sit in the middle of the risers in order to have a comfortable line-of-sight with the screen. Since some wheelchair users have limited neck movement range, this configuration made AMC a popular target for Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) lawsuits.[157] AMC subsequently solved the problem in newer theaters by building full-stadium auditoriums where the main entrance is through a ramp that emerges onto a platform in the middle of the risers so that wheelchair users can enjoy optimal line-of-sight. However, the U.S. Department of Justice sued the company, and obtained an order requiring AMC to retrofit over 1,990 screens in 95 multiplexes and megaplexes across the United States.
The company successfully appealed the order to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which ruled on December 5, 2008[158] that the order was excessive and violated AMC's due process rights under the Constitution of the United States.[157] AMC won by pointing out that the United States Access Board had not yet amended its guidelines for movie theaters to specifically require them to provide wheelchair guests sightlines that were as good as those from elevated risers, versus merely providing an unobstructed view of the screen. Therefore, the court ruled that it was unfair to AMC to retroactively hold it to a standard that did not exist at the time it began building stadium-style theaters.
When AMC announced that most of their theaters would reopen in mid-July 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, the initial announcement said masks would be recommended but not mandatory. AMC CEO Adam Aron stated, "We are strongly encouraging our guests to wear masks all across the country, but not requiring it" and "We did not want to be drawn into a political controversy... We thought it might be counterproductive if we forced mask wearing on those people who believe strongly that it is not necessary."[159] After massive pushback from the public, Aron changed the policy to require masks: "This announcement prompted an intense and immediate outcry from our customers, and it is clear from this response that we did not go far enough on the usage of masks," Aron said.[160]
