Just days after unveiling its third-quarter earnings, AMC Theaters is dealing with a fresh headache: a widespread outage crippling its app and website. Reports started pouring in on November 11, with nearly 1,000 users across the U.S. complaining about login issues, ticket purchases going haywire, and overall access grinding to a halt. By midday on November 12, the glitch had frustrated moviegoers nationwide, forcing many to scramble for alternatives or skip showtimes altogether.
This tech tumble comes at a tough time for the cinema giant, which dominates the market with over 950 locations and screens for blockbuster AMC movies like the summer's Superman and Jurassic World Rebirth. In its latest financial report, AMC posted revenues of $1.3 billion for the quarter ending September, a slight dip of 3.5% from the prior year, blamed partly on an 11% slide in domestic box office sales. More starkly, the company swung to a $298 million net loss, up sharply from last year's $20.7 million shortfall, thanks to hefty non-cash charges tied to refinancing debt.
Insiders point to broader woes in the theater business—rising costs, shifting viewer habits, and that nagging customer disconnect in AMC theaters where empty seats tell their own story. While the outage seems temporary, it underscores vulnerabilities in an industry still clawing back from pandemic scars. CEO Adam Aron has touted innovations like premium formats to lure crowds, but skeptics wonder if enough's changing to turn the tide.
With holiday releases on the horizon, will AMC Theaters steady the ship, or are more bumps ahead in this evolving entertainment landscape?
