Justin Bullock, FISM News
The movie theater giant, AMC, is hoping to revitalize its business after the pandemic by signing a deal with AT&T’s Warner Brothers. AMC was one of a number of movie theater chains decimated by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, AMC was unique in that it became a part of the meme stock craze that took place earlier following GameStop. As a result AMC share prices soared from less than $10.00 to almost $70.00 at its highest point.
AMC is hoping to build off the public good will generated during the stock market run. The deal with Warner Bros. will guarantee a 45 day exclusive theatrical release in AMC theaters for all movies produced by Warner Bros. This deal will go into effect beginning in 2022. This means that rather than Warner Bros films being simultaneously released via home streaming services, a new development in the movie industry due to the pandemic, AMC will have a 45 day window where the film can only been seen in their theaters.
The hope is that this will inspire a general return to the movies for Americans across the country. AMC and other movie theater chains were already suffering prior to lockdowns, so now AMC and other theaters are at the verge of desperation and bankruptcy. In fact, if AMC stock had not been a part of the meme stock rally earlier this year then it was highly anticipated that AMC would have gone broke by this point as they had been in tremendous debt before the rise in their stock prices.
With the new partnership, many are hoping that theaters will be given enough of a boost to prevent them from being a memory we tell our kids about.