AMC reopening, turning back time
Kansas City’s Regent Theatre was built in 1914 and became the first cinema of the company that would eventually be known as AMC. The building was demolished in the 1960s to make room for an office tower, as was much of America.
AMC, the world’s largest chain of movie theaters, will begin reopening its American cinemas on August 20. And to entice moviegoers back — and to commemorate a piece of its own history — the chain will sell tickets for just 15 cents, which was the average ticket price in 1920, the year company founders Maurice, Edward and Barney Dubinsky bought the Regent Theater, in Kansas City, Missouri.
The company was renamed American Multi-Cinema (AMC) in 1961. For more on AMC’s history, visit AMCTheatres.com. And click here to learn more about the Dubinsky family.
The company says it expects to open about two-thirds of its U.S. cinemas by September 3, the opening date of Christopher Nolan’s Tenet.
Regal, the country’s second-largest cinema chain, also expects to open many of its theaters one day later, on August 21, with $5 tickets. Both Regal and AMC will be showing a mix of old and new films.
Cinemark, the nation’s third-biggest chain, has been slightly more proactive than AMC and Regal, with some of its cinemas already open. It will continue its gradual reopening nationwide in the coming weeks.