AMC Theatres Reopening Delayed, Will Now Open On July 30

Here we go again. AMC Theatres were planning on reopening on July 15, in time for the big release of Christopher Nolan's Tenet. Then Tenet moved its release date (twice). And so did Disney's Mulan. Which means there are no big blockbusters lined-up for July now. As a result, AMC has pushed its reopening date to July 30. Will that hold? Or will we be right back here again in a few weeks?

We all saw this coming, but now it's official: AMC Theatres have delayed reopening until July 30. The plan was for AMC to start reopening its circuit on July 15, as both Tenet and Mulan were set to arrive next month. Then Tenet moved to July 30, and then moved again, to August 12, 2020. Mulan followed suit, with Disney pushing the release date to August 21, 2020. With no big movies to screen, AMC has now pushed their reopening to July 30.

In a statement, Adam Aron, CEO & President, AMC Theatres said:

"We continue to devote extraordinary resources into our plan to operate our theatres with a hyper commitment to the safety and health of our guests and associates, notably in the United States through our new AMC Safe & Clean initiative. Our theatre general managers across the U.S. started working full time again today and are back in their theatres gearing up to get their buildings fully ready just a few weeks from now for moviegoers. That happy day, when we can welcome guests back into most of our U.S. theatres, will be Thursday, July 30."

As of now, the Russell Crowe movie Unhinged is set to open on July 31, which will make it the first new movie to play at AMC Theatres – assuming both dates hold. And while I continue to hope movie theaters can get back up and running again, I find it very hard to believe that a few more weeks are going to magically make everything better. Coronavirus cases continue to spike across the country, and we're still a long way off from a vaccine. Maybe it's time for movie theaters and Hollywood to accept that the summer movie season is beyond salvaging at this point.

Meanwhile, Cinemark has announced a new date as well: July 24, although that news comes with a long list of theaters that are still not quite ready to get up and running again. You can see the list here. Across the pond, and at home, Cineworld, the UK cinema chain that also owns Regal Cinemas, is delaying their reopening from July 10 to July 31.