AMC, perhaps the biggest ‘come back’ story of 2021, is moving to broaden its control over the domestic exhibition industry while its stock is still riding high. We asked Brandon Blake, our resident theater connoisseur and entertainment attorney at Blake & Wang P.A, for further details.
Pacific and ArcLight Leases
As the country’s largest circuit, AMC announced plans to take over a long-term lease to run The Grove (Los Angeles) and The Americana at Brand (Glendale) earlier this year, both of which used to fall under the Pacific Theaters chain before it lapsed.
It is also adding the newly rebranded ‘AMC Northridge Fashion Center’ and ‘AMC Chicago 14’ to the slate, ready to reopen in spring next year. These were previous ArcLight properties, although they are all operated by the greater Pacific/Arclight company.
Highly-trafficked Theaters
According to AMC chair-CEO Adam Aron, all of these locations have been highly trafficked in the past, and show great potential as additional properties. The acquisitions themselves are positioned as AMC staying ‘on the offense’ in search of popular locations to further the growth of their bottom line.
It has worked well for them to date. Both their newly-acquired ex-Pacific properties are managing to squeak into the top-10 lists for the L.A market regarding box office performance already, no mean feat in an area with over 150 competing cinemas. Both have also featured in the top 30 for the U.S overall
Additionally, we are told AMC will remain in discussion with other currently closed locations, hoping to add to the stable. The iconic Cinerama Dome in Hollywood, however, will be reopened by the Pacific/Arclight parent company, Decurion Corporation, during the course of next year.
AMC seems keen to capitalize on the lifeline extended to them earlier this year, and so far it appears to be paying off. It’s a situation we will keep an interested eye on going forward.
Film and Television 