AMC Theatres has announced their acquisition of former ArcLight locations in the San Diego and Washington D.C. DMAs, with plans to open both cinemas early this year.
AMC’s lease agreements with developer Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) will see the new AMC UTC 14 at Westfield UTC, in the San Diego market, reopen this Thursday, February 10, while D.C.’s AMC Montgomery 16 at Westfield Montgomery is expected to open in March 2022.
AMC noted in their press release that they are in “active discussions” to acquire additional shuttered locations. The chain closed out 2021 with the acquisition of theaters in Chicago and LA previously owned by the Pacific/ArcLight circuit, the largest North American cinema chain to go belly-up as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. All told, today’s announcement brings AMC’s total number of former ArcLight/Pacific theaters up to six, including AMC The Grove 14 and AMC Americana at Brand 18, which per CEO and Chairman Adam Aron “are already showing their success as those locations routinely finish in the top 10 theaters in box office performance among more than 150 theaters in the LA market, and in the top 30 in the entire United States.” The other two AMC-acquired ArcLight locations, AMC Northridge 10 in Northridge, Calif., and AMC NEWCITY 14 in Chicago, are expected to open later in 2022.
AMC’s acquisition of former Pacific/ArcLight locations represents, says Aron, the chain’s strategy of “play[ing] offense and aggressively seek[ing] out opportunities to strengthen our company through strategic acquisitions.”
Continued Aron:
“We look forward to bringing the AMC experience to even more guests in and around San Diego and Washington D.C., at these previously high-traffic, well known theaters.”
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