AMC Entertainment is finally looking to reopen 100 movie theater locations on Aug. 20 after being closed for the last five months due to COVID-19, and just in time for the company’s 100th anniversary.
To commemorate the moment, for that day only, tickets at theaters will cost 15 cents, about what it cost to see a movie in 1920, Variety reports. That year, the company’s founders, the Dubinsky Brothers, launched operations on a single movie screen in Kansas City, Missouri.
While customers won’t be able to watch new films on Aug. 20, they will be able to see legacy titles like Black Panther and The Empire Strikes Back. And beginning the next day, on Aug. 21, AMC will show older films for $5, like the 10th anniversary edition of Inception, plus Back to the Future, Ghostbusters, and Grease.
AMC’s reopening in the U.S. will be phased, with the objective to have roughly two-thirds of its over 600 locations operational for the Sept. 3 release of Christopher Nolan’s Tenet. That doesn’t include venues in New York and Los Angeles, which haven’t been approved to reopen yet.
The handful of new movies that are opening before Tenet include the Russell Crowe thriller Unhinged and The New Mutants, which will cost about $10 each. Members of the company’s subscription program, AMC Stubs A-List, will also be given a $10 credit to use through the end of October.
AMC has introduced new cleaning measures and will keep venues at limited capacity so social distancing can be enforced. Employees and guests will be required to wear face masks.
“We are thrilled to once again open our doors to American moviegoers who are looking for an opportunity to get out of their houses and apartments and escape into the magic of the movies. As our guests return on our first day of resumed operations on August 20, we invite them to join us in celebrating a return to the movies, and in celebrating 100 years of AMC making smiles happen with movies at 1920 prices of only 15 cents each,” CEO Adam Aron said.
The first venues to reopen will be located in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Las Vegas, and St. Louis, among other markets.
