The British company, which owns Regal Cinemas in
Cineworld faces challenges specific to itself after building up
To be sure, moviegoers have streamed back into theaters this year to see blockbusters like “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” and ”Jurassic Park: Dominion." Industry giant Warner Discovery has said it's doubling down on theaters and moving away from debuting films on its HBO Max streaming service.
But this summer's
Cineworld said its admissions levels have recently been below expectations. And with a “limited film slate,” it expects the lower levels to continue until November. That would mean an additional crunch to its finances.
Cineworld said it's holding talks with lenders and other major stakeholders as it reviews its financial options. It also said it expects “ultimately to continue its business over the longer term with no significant impact upon its employees." It has about 28,000 workers, according to the company's website.
Even if employees could make it through intact, shareholders may not. The company warned again Monday that any transaction to ease the debt on its balance sheet would likely hurt its stock investors.
The company's stock in
Shares of other theater chains also stumbled Monday, but nowhere near as much as Cineworld.
Its executives said earlier in August that the next two months will be challenged by a dip in new releases. But they also said they're hopeful for a strong close of the year.
Rival
This year, about a third less wide-release films have been put into theaters as before the pandemic. Some of that has to do with residual delays in Hollywood’s production pipeline caused by earlier COVID-19 shutdowns and postponements. But it’s also because a lot of movies go straight to streaming.
One of the summer’s most-watched movies, the Ryan Gosling-Chris Evans action thriller “The Gray Man,” played on
Unless films like Sony Pictures’ “Woman King,” with
AMC's stock fell to
Investors received one share of APE for every AMC share they owned at the end of Friday. Analysts said it was similar to a two-for-one stock split, a deal that often sees a company's share price drop by roughly half. Analysts said the new APE shares offer AMC a way to raise cash in the future, which it could use to reduce its debt.
The company last year tapped the stock market to raise cash, taking advantage of a huge run-up in its share price when it got caught up the frenzy surrounding so-called meme stocks.
Its shares sextupled in
AP Film Writer
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