In honor of the company’s 100-year anniversary, AMC Theatres will sell movie tickets for 15 cents apiece for one day—the same price the theater charged when it first opened in 1920. AMC, which closed its doors in March due to the pandemic, finally plans to reopen 100 theaters on August 20, after weeks of delay due to the unpredictable nature of the virus and the rising number of cases across the country.
After that reopening day AMC will continue to keep costs down, charging $5 for screenings of older films like Grease, Ghostbusters, and Back to the Future, according to Variety. The theater chain will also begin screening new releases, including the Russell Crowe thriller Unhinged and the long-awaited New Mutants, for around $10 a ticket.
This is all in preparation, of course, for the upcoming release of Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, the first big tentpole to take its chances with a traditional theatrical model in the wake of the pandemic. The mysterious prestige vehicle, starring John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, and Elizabeth Debicki, will open in 70 countries internationally on August 26 and in select North American cities on September 3, for that sweet Labor Day bump.
While other studios have decided to dramatically push back their biggest offerings—or, in Disney’s case, put would-be blockbusters like Mulan on its streaming service, albeit with a much higher price tag—Warner Bros. has pushed ahead with Tenet, likely due, in part, to Nolan’s dogged devotion to the cinema. He’s also inspired devotion right back; shortly after Warner Bros. announced its Tenet plans, AMC competitor Regal announced it would reopen U.S. theaters on August 21 ahead of the film’s release, though it’s unclear how many theaters will be back in business then.
While there’s still endless trepidation about the riskiness of opening movie theaters at a time like this, chains like AMC are in dire need of fresh business. The chain has also tried to preemptively assuage concerns, announcing that it will enforce new cleaning measures, limit the number of available seats, and require both employees and attendees to wear masks. Keeping costs down is just one way to tempt moviegoers back into theaters.
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