Opening the wide doors and taking in the smell of buttery popcorn, it feels like time has stopped. Walking through the dimly-lit path and into an opening of seats with a giant screen. The rustle of popcorn and the clattering of the ice inside your soda cup as you adjust in your seat, ready to watch the movie. The theater goes completely black and a loud sound radiates as you get sucked into a different world. 

Celebrating its 100-year anniversary, AMC Theatres has hit a low point. Due to the Coronavirus, many businesses are being affected, AMC Theatres is one of them. 

In the past four years the theatre has brought many guests in, however due to the streaming services, they have been suffering with the financial year’s average net income of approximately $-100 million. Now, according to the report of the second quarter of 2020 made in August, the profit has dropped to $-2.7 billion. 

Also, according to the Wall Street Journal, AMC’s 52 week high was in November 2019 with $9.73, but in April 2020, it has dropped to $1.95. With a better understanding of the situation with the virus, the stocks have gone up again to $3.56.

To attract more guests in this time, AMC has made some adjustments to fit the social distancing rule. Introduced by Adam Aron, the CEO and President of AMC Theatres, they have limited seat capacity in every AMC auditorium, enhanced theatre cleaning, and guidance for guests and theatre staff. 

AMC plans to cap ticket availability to 50% of the normal seat capacity and will pronounce the screening as Sold Out when it has reached that point. And for the auditoriums that have more than 500 seats, they will reduce the maximum to 250 people.

For the cleaning portion, AMC has instituted enhanced cleaning protocols including thoroughly cleaning between each and every showtime and cleaning high-touch areas such as: kiosks, counter tops, restroom areas, glass, handrails, and doorknobs.

“…we also have invested millions and millions of dollars in high tech solutions to sanitation, disinfection and cleanliness, such as the ordering of electrostatic sprayers, HEPA filter vacuum cleaners and MERV 13 air ventilation filters,” said Aron.

To enjoy but also to be safe, AMC has mandated that any theatre associates who feel ill are excused from work and should not come to the theatre as well as ask guests to stay home and seek medical assistance if they are not feeling well. 

With this protocol AMC hopes to have guests enjoy movies in a clean and healthy environment. 

“Now that we can once again reopen our doors to you, we are so looking forward to another 100 years of making smiles happen,” said Aron.