Movie theaters hope vaccine will help recovery from financial devastation
AMC CEO Adam Aron recalls that his 'revenue went to nothing overnight' on 'The Claman Countdown'
AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron believes that the movie theater industry is heading for a strong rebound due to widespread distribution of the coronavirus vaccine and an expected increase in cinema attendance.
Aron told "The Claman Countdown" on Monday that his company was facing bankruptcy until last weekend, when they managed to raise a $917 million equity investment to sustain the movie theater chain deep into 2021.
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"We went from being the largest movie theater chain in the world, most successful, [and] we think, the best, [to] in a blink of the eye last March we had to shut all of our theaters ... and our revenue went to nothing overnight," Aron recalled.
The movie theater giant sought capital to stay afloat until next summer, when they expect to see a significant amount of the population vaccinated and can release an estimated backlog of dozens of blockbuster films that were delayed by the pandemic.
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"We raised a lot of money, we bought ourselves a lot of time, and the difference now as opposed to the last ten months is vaccinations are here," Aron said.
While the spread of the virus continues to keep many of its movie theaters shuttered, Aron announced that "two-thirds" of theaters in the U.S. have already begun to safely reopen.
"We sold tickets to millions and millions of guests dating back to August, and because of our commitment to health and safety protocols ... we're not worried about a single case of a transmission of virus at our theaters," he said.
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The company, still reeling from financial devastation, is not completely out of the woods, but Aron remains hopeful of a "healthy, strong summer."
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"With theaters opening, with movie titles releasing, we got a future," he said, "and I’m looking forward to a nice, healthy strong summer."
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