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Movie Theaters Desperate to Reopen Face ‘Groundbreaking’ Changes to Exhibition

America’s theater chains are eager to turn the lights back on after months of no ticket stubs, no concessions and no revenue. But the world of theatrical exhibition they’re rushing back to has been significantly transformed. The global pandemic has forced studios to reexamine theatrical release windows, as well as release films first in overseas markets, where theaters have begun to reopen at a significantly reduced capacity. But first thing’s first: Movie theaters need to get back to bringing in some revenue. AMC Theatres and Cinemark, both of which recently reported earnings for the second quarter, illustrate the dire circumstances: Cinemark announced it’d lost $170 million during the quarter, and AMC lost $561 million in what the company’s CEO, Adam Aron, called, “the most challenging quarter in the 100-year history of AMC.” They’ve cut costs and bandaged their businesses in efforts to survive the brunt of the pandemic. However, there’s a huge question mark about what happens if releases and reopening continue to be delayed. “COVID-19 has exacerbated longstanding issues that have been shaping the economics of movie exhibition for some time,” Derek Long, a media and cinema studies professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign said. “None of this necessarily means that theaters will...

Read original story Movie Theaters Desperate to Reopen Face ‘Groundbreaking’ Changes to Exhibition At TheWrap