AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. is keen to continue riding the concert film wave with the Friday release of “Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé.”
The movie-theater chain and meme-stock darling enjoyed a boost in recent months from “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” which broke records after its opening on Oct. 12.
In early October Beyoncé’s production and management company Parkwood Entertainment and AMC announced that “Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé” will hit the AMC theaters in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico on Dec. 1. In addition to showing “Renaissance” in its theaters, AMC is also distributing the movie globally.
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The opening weekend box office forecast for “Renaissance” ranges from $14 million to $25 million, according to Benchmark analyst Mike Hickey. The film has sparked strong pre-sales and ticket volume, comparable to the second weekend of “The Eras Tour,” he said in a note released Friday. “Average ticket price is over $20,” he added. On a global basis, the film is targeting $35 million to $40 million in its opening weekend, according to Variety.
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AMC shares rose 2.8% Friday, outpacing the S&P 500 index’s
SPX
gain of 0.6%. The company’s shares fell earlier this week, following disappointing Thanksgiving weekend box-office performance from Walt Disney Co.’s
DIS,
new animated adventure “Wish.”
During a conference call to discuss AMC’s third-quarter results last month, the company’s CEO Adam Aron said that Taylor Swift and Beyoncé’s movies could pave the way for other concert films at AMC.
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“In working with two of the most admired pop stars on the planet, we already have touched lightning,” he said. “We are optimistic, though, that this will lead to much more ahead … we believe that we will have several more concert film products in 2024 and 2025. We intend to be working with some of the most known and most loved musical artists the world has ever known.”
AMC shares have fallen 81% in 2023, compared with the S&P 500 index’s gain of 19.7%.
Jon Swartz contributed.
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