31 Facts About AMC Theatres

AMC Theatres was formed in 1920 by Maurice, Edward, and Barney Dubinsky, who had been traveling the Midwest performing melodramas and tent shows with actress Jeanne Eagels.

AMC Theatres persuaded his father to build drive-in theaters and built them in St Joseph, Jefferson City and Leavenworth.

In 1961, after Ed died, Stanley took control of Durwood AMC Theatres, which by then was a small ten-theatre chain.

AMC Theatres built its first multiplex overseas in 1985, the 10-screen multiplex at The Point, Milton Keynes in the United Kingdom, and later opened additional sites in the UK such as in Dudley and Tamworth, Staffordshire.

In 1995, AMC Theatres pioneered the first North American megaplex, a theater that could accommodate thousands, when it opened the AMC Grand 24 in Dallas, Texas; the first megaplex in the world had been built by European chain Kinepolis in 1988.

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AMC Theatres sometimes serve a dual function; in addition to the normal cinema functions, they cater to companies' business conferences which can make use of their projectors for displaying presentations.

In September 2011, AMC Theatres announced plans to move its headquarters to a new $30 million four-story building designed by 360 Architecture in the Park Place development at 117th Street and Nall Avenue in Leawood, Kansas in suburban Kansas City.

In May 2012, AMC Theatres was acquired by Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group, headquartered in Dalian, who paid $2.

In March 2016, AMC Theatres announced it would acquire competitor Carmike Cinemas.

In July 2017, AMC Theatres announced they would be cutting $30 million in expenses by the end of the year.

AMC Theatres said this shutdown would last for at least six to twelve weeks.

AMC Theatres upgraded its air filtration systems to four times the rates before the pandemic and installed electrostatic sprayers in the auditoriums.

AMC Theatres stated that this new funding "should allow the company to make it through this dark coronavirus-impacted winter".

CEO Adam Aron stated that AMC Theatres was facing the "most challenging market conditions in the 100-year history of the company", but cited progress on COVID-19 vaccinations, decisions to allow cinemas in New York City and Los Angeles to re-open, and a "significant" number of upcoming blockbuster films as signs of optimism.

The AMC Theatres Preferred Equity Units will list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “APE, ” a nod to the investors who turned the company into a meme stock, who often refer to themselves as “apes” or “ape nation.

In July 1994, AMC Theatres signed an agreement with Sony to begin installing Dolby Digital in auditoriums, and began upgrading selected older auditoriums in 2003.

AMC Theatres created the now-defunct MovieWatcher program that rewarded frequent movie-goers similar to other rewards programs but featured innovative aspects.

Some AMC Theatres locations have a bar service under the MacGuffins brand.

AMC Theatres formed a short-lived partnership with Planet Hollywood which failed due to that company's bankruptcy.

The Planet Movies by AMC Theatres venture planned to open complexes worldwide with the objective of having icon locations in major metropolitan and other select areas, like Orlando and Columbus.

At Universal Studios Florida, AMC Theatres had the Universal Cineplex 20, until September 2018 when it became a Cinemark.

AMC Theatres Independent is an AMC Theatres film distribution program that aims to help independent films reach a theatrical audience.

In March 2002, AMC Theatres bought General Cinema Corporation, which added 66 theaters with 621 screens to the company assets, as well as Gulf States Theaters, which had five theaters with 68 screens in the greater New Orleans area.

In late 2003, AMC acquired MegaStar Theatres, adding additional theaters in the Atlanta and Minneapolis–St Paul markets.

In 2010, AMC acquired Chicago-based Kerasotes Showplace Theatres, LLC for $275 million, combining the nation's second and sixth largest movie theater chains, except for the Showplace 14 in New Jersey and the Showplace ICON theatres.

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In July 2021, AMC Theatres announced that it would acquire the leases to the Americana at Brand in downtown Glendale and The Grove at Farmers Market in Los Angeles locations, formerly owned by Pacific Theatres, and that they would reopen in August as part of the AMC chain.

AMC Theatres has not ruled out acquiring the leases of other Pacific Theatres locations.

In December 2021, AMC Theatres Theaters announced that they had acquired the leases to the former Pacific Theaters location at Northridge Fashion Center in Northridge, Los Angeles and the Arclight Chicago 14 in Lincoln Park, Chicago, which both opened in 2022.

In February 2022, AMC Theaters reached a deal to acquire the leases to the Arclight Montgomery 16 at Westfield Montgomery in Washington D C and the Westfield UTC mall's Arclight UTC 14 in La Jolla, with the former reopening that month and the latter in March of that year.

AMC Theatres subsequently solved the problem in newer theaters by building full-stadium auditoriums where the main entrance is through a ramp that emerges onto a platform in the middle of the risers so that wheelchair users can enjoy optimal line-of-sight.

AMC Theatres won by pointing out that the United States Access Board had not yet amended its guidelines for movie theaters to specifically require them to provide wheelchair guests sightlines that were as good as those from elevated risers, versus merely providing an unobstructed view of the screen.