As movie theaters try to come back to life, it seems that AMC may have a rougher road before it than first believed.
Throughout the movie theater closures, AMC Theaters seemed to have the biggest question marks surrounding it. In April the company was reportedly exploring Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and now that seems to be back on the table.
With the quarterly reports coming in for various companies, AMC reported a loss of over $2B for the first quarter of the year. “We may not be able to obtain additional liquidity and any relief provided by lenders, governmental agencies, and business partners may not be adequate and may include onerous terms,” the company said in its 8K filing. “Due to these factors, substantial doubt exists about our ability to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period of time.”
Currently, AMC Theaters operates 996 locations and 10,993 screens across 15 countries. In the United States, it has 630 theaters for a total of 8.048 screens. Should the company not be able to weather this storm, then it could cause some real issues for the movie industry as a whole.
The filing went on to state that there are many unknown factors such as when films will release, employees’ willingness to return to their jobs, the possibility of future shutdowns to more Coronavirus outbreaks, and more. “If we do not respond appropriately to the pandemic, or if customers do not perceive our response to be adequate, we could suffer damage to our reputation, which could significantly adversely affect our business,” the filing stated.
The full AMC Theaters financial report will be released on June 9.