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AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. plans to revive two more shuttered Pacific and ArcLight movie theaters, continuing a strategic acquisition plan targeting key cinemas in major markets.
AMC
AMC,
the world’s largest theater chain, said Wednesday it has reached lease agreements and will reopen the Northridge Fashion Center 10 in Northridge, Calif., and the former ArcLight Chicago 14 in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, which will be renamed the AMC Chicago 14.
The high-end theaters were previously run by ArcLight Cinemas and Pacific Theatres, which closed them in spring 2020 due to the pandemic, and announced this past April that they would not reopen, to the disappointment of many movie-goers. Many of the chain’s locations were in heavily populated metro areas and among the nation’s highest-grossing theaters before the pandemic.
“These theaters have previously been high-traffic, successful locations, in two of AMC’s top markets, and we are pleased to offer the AMC experience at them a few months from now in 2022,” AMC Chief Executive Adam Aron said in a statement Wednesday. “These are prime examples of how AMC is staying on offense, looking for opportunities to strengthen our company through the acquisition of these popular locations.”
Earlier this year, AMC reopened the Grove Theatre in Los Angeles and the Americana Theatre in Glendale, Calif., which were both formerly owned by Pacific.
Those acquisitions “are already showing their success, as those locations routinely finish in the top 10 theaters in box office performance among more than 150 theatres in the L.A. market, and in the top 30 in the entire United States,” Aron said.
AMC said it “continues to explore additional acquisition opportunities in key locations in the United States.”
Another movie theater shuttered by Pacific, the iconic Cinerama Dome and theater complex in Hollywood, Calif., may reopen under new ownership as soon as next year, the Los Angeles Times reported last week.
AMC shares slipped 5% Wednesday and have slumped nearly 30% over the past three months, but are still up more than 1,250% year to date.
