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AMC Tumbles as Hollywood Strikes, Higher Expenses Hit Results

An AMC theater is pictured in Times Square in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US, June 2, 2021. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo
An AMC theater is pictured in Times Square in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US, June 2, 2021. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo
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AMC Tumbles as Hollywood Strikes, Higher Expenses Hit Results

An AMC theater is pictured in Times Square in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US, June 2, 2021. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo
An AMC theater is pictured in Times Square in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US, June 2, 2021. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo

AMC Entertainment slumped nearly 8% on Thursday as the movie industry continued to reel from the impact of twin Hollywood strikes, driving the theater chain to post a larger-than-expected quarterly loss.
The writers and actors' strikes have crippled much of the industry, leading to fewer releases following the blockbuster summer successes of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer."
The delay in the release of the "Dune" sequel likely contributed to the box-office weakness last year.
AMC reported a loss of 83 cents per share for the fourth quarter, while analysts were expecting a loss of 70 cents, according to LSEG data. The impact of the strikes is expected to linger this year and weigh on earnings in 2024.
Just as adjusted core earnings in the summer of 2023 were returning to more acceptable pre-COVID levels, the movie industry was paralyzed by debilitating strikes, temporarily challenging AMC earnings in 2024, CEO Adam Aron said on a post-earnings call.
The strikes and the resulting lack of new content forced studios to try other means such as concert-based movies to pull in revenue.
"AMC's deals with Beyoncé and Taylor Swift went a long way in staunching the wounds and have opened up a lucrative revenue stream," said Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell.
However, higher distribution costs for Swift and Beyonce's concert movies were a drag on its earnings, Reuters reported.
Domestic box-office collection was down 35% for the fourth quarter, compared with pre-pandemic levels in 2019, and 45% for the first two months of the year, compared with 2020 levels.
For 2024, "the impact from the 6-month Hollywood work stoppage is likely to cause the overall domestic box office to decrease 7%," Roth MKM analyst Eric Handler said.

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Alfonso Cuarón, Cate Blanchett Bring Series ‘Disclaimer’ to Venice Film Festival 

Cast member Cate Blanchett poses on the red carpet during arrivals for the screening of the mini-series "Disclaimer", out of competition, at the 81st Venice Film Festival, in Venice, Italy August 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Cast member Cate Blanchett poses on the red carpet during arrivals for the screening of the mini-series "Disclaimer", out of competition, at the 81st Venice Film Festival, in Venice, Italy August 29, 2024. (Reuters)
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Alfonso Cuarón, Cate Blanchett Bring Series ‘Disclaimer’ to Venice Film Festival 

Cast member Cate Blanchett poses on the red carpet during arrivals for the screening of the mini-series "Disclaimer", out of competition, at the 81st Venice Film Festival, in Venice, Italy August 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Cast member Cate Blanchett poses on the red carpet during arrivals for the screening of the mini-series "Disclaimer", out of competition, at the 81st Venice Film Festival, in Venice, Italy August 29, 2024. (Reuters)

Alfonso Cuarón is the first to admit that he does not know how to make a television series. He might even be too old to learn how, he said.

The Oscar-winning filmmaker has technically now made a series, the seven-part AppleTV+ show “Disclaimer,” four episodes of which premiered Thursday at the Venice Film Festival. But he did it his way: Like a film.

Based on Renée Knight’s 2015 book of the same name, “Disclaimer” is a psychological thriller about a documentarian and journalist, Catherine Ravenscroft (Cate Blanchett), who discovers she’s a character in a novel that reveals her darkest secret.

Cuarón, Blanchett and Kevin Kline all made the journey to the Italian film festival to debut and speak about the show before it begins streaming on Oct. 11.

“I read the book and immediately in my mind I saw a film, but I didn’t know how to make that film,” Cuarón, the director of films including “Gravity” and “Roma,” said in a news conference Thursday. “It was way too long. I could not shape it as such.”

It was only later, he said, that he thought it might work in longer form, inspired by predecessors like Rainer Werner Fassbinder, David Lynch and Krzysztof Kieślowski.

“I was intrigued and that was the point of departure,” Cuarón said.

He started writing with one name in mind for Catherine: Blanchett, terrified that she might say no. Not only did she not say no, she also was the one who suggested Kline for a British character. Sacha Baron Cohen plays her husband in the show and Kodi Smit-McPhee plays her son.

All soon realized that approaching it as a film, and shooting it as a film, would take much longer than a normal series. He even enlisted two cinematographers, Emmanuel Lubezki and Bruno Delbonnel, to add a distinct visual language to the different perspectives in the story. All told, it took about a year.

“It was a really long process,” Cuarón said. “And I really feel for the actors because they were stuck with the characters for way too long.”

Blanchett laughed that they were “still recovering.”

The final three episodes will screen Friday at the festival. Though the festival is most known for its feature film premieres, it does play host to select series as well. This year those also include Joe Wright’s Mussolini biopic “M: Son of the Century,” Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The New Years” and Thomas Vinterberg’s “Families Like Ours.”