Moviegoers, rejoice! AMC to reopen nearly all US theatres Friday

The reopening comes after the cinema chain’s toughest year ever, in which AMC repeatedly came close to filing for Chapter 11 and saw most key new films delayed because of the pandemic.

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. plans to have nearly all of its U.S. theaters open by Friday, marking a symbolic milestone for a chain that skirted bankruptcy during the depths of the pandemic. The last remaining theaters it has left to reopen are mostly in Southern California, where a surge in cases prevented health officials from recommending cinemas resume work. With those screens coming back, 98% of AMC’s U.S. theaters will be operating by March 19, with 99% online by the following week, AMC said in a statement Wednesday. The reopening comes after the cinema chain’s toughest year ever, in which AMC repeatedly came close to filing for Chapter 11 and saw most major new films delayed because of the pandemic. The Leawood, Kansas-based company lost $4.6 billion in 2020. It came up with a rescue package early in the year that allowed it to survive for most of 2021, even if the business doesn’t improve.