AMC and Cinemark, respectively the first and third-largest exhibitors in North America, have seen record attendance on the back of the pandemic-best $90.1M opening of Sony’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage. In addition, the international release of No Time to Die in key territories has set records for AMC overseas.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage shot to a pandemic-best opening over the weekend, surpassing the $80.37M earned by Black Widow in July. AMC reports that over the period covering Thursday, September 30 through Sunday, October 3, more than 2.4 million people attended an AMC cinema in the United States, with 1.4 million moviegoers visiting the exhibitor’s international locations. That combined 3.9 million attendance, driven by Venom: Let There Be Carnage domestically and No Time to Die internationally, proves the highest for AMC since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. The chain also reports record-breaking food and beverage sales over the weekend.
Said AMC CEO and Chairman Adam Aron: “In the United States in particular, the movie-going response to Venom: Let There Be Carnage brought moviegoers to AMCs in droves, and on Saturday helped AMC to enjoy its best single-day revenue level since the pandemic forced us to close our U.S. theaters more than 18 months ago. “
Cinemark, meanwhile, saw the Venom sequel contribute to the chain’s most-attended and highest-grossing weekend of the Covid era, with a particularly strong showing in the chain’s proprietary XD premium-large format offering. Beyond that, a Cinemark representative states that last weekend was “undoubtedly our biggest October opening and total box office weekend ever.”
Venom: Let There Be Carnage had the second-highest October opening ever, behind only Joker‘s $96.2M.
“Venom: Let There be Carnage is a box office sensation currently battling for the top Covid-era opening. This film really resonated with our moviegoers, delivering results that significantly outpace the industry performance and set multiple all-time Cinemark records, including largest-ever October box office weekend,” stated Cinemark CEO Mark Zoradi. “This is another strong example that people want and need to get out of their homes for an immersive entertainment experience. Congratulations to our partners at Sony and all the talent involved on delivering such a fantastic film for our moviegoers to see exclusively in a movie theater.”
Internationally, AMC also benefited from the international release of No Time to Die in 54 markets, including the U.K., where AMC operates as Odeon. In the U.K. and Ireland, No Time to Die earned $34.8M, making it the sixth-largest opening ever for that territory. Per information provided by AMC, Saturday ticket admissions for No Time to Die in the U.K. were the highest for the first day of any film in the James Bond franchise. Internationally, No Time to Die opened to $121.2M; it comes out in domestic markets this weekend.
“Yet again, AMC is celebrating an important milestone as we continue striving to generate a full recovery for our movie theater business both at home and abroad. A new post-reopening global weekend attendance record of approximately 3.9 million moviegoers is important, as is the fact that this weekend’s success is due to two different blockbuster movies, each driving terrific business for AMC Entertainment on different continents,” said Aron. “The success of these two new blockbuster movies, and of our theaters both at home and abroad, demonstrates the huge pent-up demand we see in moviegoers who are ever so eager to return to movie theaters. To the self-proclaimed sages who routinely and mindlessly predict the demise of cinemas, it is my view that it is simply wrong to underestimate the enormous consumer appeal and resilience of movie theaters.”
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