AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron appeared optimistic regarding the movie industry’s ability to bounce back after being devastated by the coronavirus pandemic, emphasizing the role vaccines will play in an eventual return to normalcy.
“We raised a lot of money. We’ve bought ourselves a lot of time, and now, the difference now, as opposed to the last 10 months, is that vaccinations are here,” Aron told Fox Business.
As the coronavirus pandemic prompted widespread lockdowns, keeping customers away from venues that rely on bringing large groups into confined spaces for extended periods of time, movie theaters were hit hard — domestic box office revenue collapsed more than $9 billion compared to prior years, from $11.4 billion in 2019 to just $2.2 billion last year.
“We went from being the largest movie theater chain in the world, most successful, [and] we think, the best — in a blink of the eye last March, we had to shut all of our theaters … and our revenue went to nothing overnight,” Aron said.
In October, AMC projected that without “additional sources of liquidity or increases in attendance levels,” it would be drained of cash “by the end of 2020 or early 2021.” At one point, the world’s largest movie theater chain was selling movie tickets for a measly 15 cents to attract guests.
But on Monday, AMC announced that it signed a number of deals for more than $900 million in financing through a combination of debt financing and equity — staving off bankruptcy and, according to Aron, positioning AMC to come out on the other side of the coronavirus pandemic’s darkest moments.
In the announcement, Aron said bankruptcy was now “completely off the table,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
Aron noted that other policy shifts, such as California Gov. Gavin Newsom lifting the statewide stay-at-home order, would also help the movie theater industry.
“Clearly, that’s a positive step that the stay-home order in California has been lifted,” Aron said. “Actually, about two-thirds of our theaters across the country are already open. We’ve sold tickets to millions and millions of guests dating back to August. Because of our commitment to health and safety protocols … we’re not aware of even a single case of the transmission of the virus at our theaters.”
“With theaters opening, with movie titles releasing, we got a future, and I’m looking forward to a nice, healthy, strong summer,” Aron added.
