AMC one of the most recognizable theater chains around the world reports that its quarterly earnings dropped by 23.5 percent from the previous quarter. AMC made about 1.35 billion in profits last summer, but this year it dropped to 1.03 billion. While this may seem like AMC still turned a profit it is smaller than average, the company is still recovering from the debt accrued during the COVID-19 Pandemic which hit right after the company started trying to buy up smaller failing theater chains to invest in to revitalize the industry.

AMC’s spokespeople blamed a combination of fewer films being available at the start of the summer season as a result of the long Hollywood strike that halted productions leading to fewer choices for audiences come July. That was compounded by the films that were available flopping with not a single blockbuster for July compared to the previous years which had two major summer films with both Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. For this year 2024, the flops that were Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, and the The Fall Guy didn’t pull the audiences back. AMC also reported a drop in attendance with only 50 million in theaters compared to the 66.6 million from last year.

While Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 found a home on streaming and its sequel was invited to premiere at the Venice Film Festival, it wasn’t until June that AMC got a chance to screen films that kept audiences in their seats, with Disney Pixar’s Inside-Out 2, Sony’s Bad Boys: Ride or Die, and Marvel’s Deadpool & Wolverine bringing back attendance.

AMC had a breath of relief though with its stock shares not dropping instead the company saw a 3 percent increase this year bringing the stock up to 5 dollars USD. The future of the company is still uncertain with the hanging debt being pushed back giving the company more time to recover and the fall and winter slates for premiers looking much more palatable to audiences with headliners like Joker 2 and other sequels or blockbusters.