Cinemark CEO Mark Zoradi said it’s unclear if movie theaters will return to full normal until 2022, Deadline reports.
What’s going on:
- Zoradi said in an earnings conference call that the business won’t be similar to what happened before COVID-19 until at least 2022, according to Deadline.
- Zoradi said: “The reality is I don’t think we’re going to be able to get into a full-on rhythm again of product cycles and all that we had prior to COVID-19 until 2022. That’s more production-related than our operation-related because as studios have had to adapt to not being able to do filming and do post-production, they’ve had to move their schedules. Therefore, we’re going to adapt as well.”
- 2021 will be a “nice recovery year,” he said, according to Deadline.
- It’s unclear what consumer demand will be for movie theaters, he said.
- Will “Tenet” or “Mulan” be curtailed because of the pandemic? He said: “I don’t think there’s an absolute reason for that to happen. It all comes back to us creating a safe environment and the studios creating a very strong demand campaign.”
What about AMC?
- AMC might not make it to see the full rhythm of movie theaters return. New reports suggested that AMC doesn’t think it will outlast the coronavirus pandemic, as I wrote about for the Deseret News.
- AMC said it likely lost between $2.1 billion and $2.4 billion in the first quarter of the year, per CNN.
- AMC said:“We believe we have the cash resources to reopen our theaters and resume our operations this summer or later. Our liquidity needs thereafter will depend, among other things, on the timing of a full resumption of operations, the timing of movie releases and our ability to generate revenues.”