In a sign that moviegoing could be coming back to life in New York, AMC Theatres has announced that they will be reopening a dozen locations in New York state by October 23. The news comes after Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that movie theater locations in New York, but outside of New York City, could reopen under strict safety guidelines.
With the reopening of New York, AMC will be operational in 44 of the 45 states where it has theaters. The New York locations opening are in Long Island – which is part of the New York City DMA. AMC CEO Adam Aron had this to say about the reopenings in New York:
“The reopening of movie theatres around the country is essential to the theatrical industry and the entire entertainment ecosystem. It has become clear that movie studios are not willing to release blockbuster product until key major markets are open. Therefore, it is a monumental step in the right direction for our entire industry that theatres are starting to open across the state of New York. We thank Governor Cuomo and local leaders in our New York communities for allowing guests to return to AMC at several locations throughout the state. We continue to work closely with state and local authorities about the reopening of New York City, which we now hope with increasing confidence is not far away. We continue to see state and local governments all across the United States recognize the strong steps we have taken through AMC Safe & Clean to ensure that we are reopening responsibly and with a focus on the health and safety of our guests and associates are working exactly as intended.”
The movie theater business has been seriously kneecapped by COVID and AMC had endured worse than some due to its high debt. The company said last week it might not have enough cash to go beyond the end of the year unless things changed and at that point, it was the still shuttered New York market being one of the issues. Hopefully, with the ease of restrictions in part of the state, New York City could see its locations reopen if the reopenings across the state don’t result in much of a spread of COVID-19.
