Those strong operational results were driven by, pretty simply, more people going to the movies: AMC said attendance was up nearly 14% in the quarter and EBITDA surged to $321.4 million, up nearly 70% year-to-date.
On the earnings call on Monday, AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron said “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” “Dune: Part Three,” and the upcoming Avengers movie can continue the positive momentum. “We believe that movie theaters will enjoy the full 12 months of 2026, their strongest yet post-pandemic year at both the domestic box office and at the global box office.”
It can’t but help AMC that its earnings results come the Monday after Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” had the biggest domestic opening weekend of the year for a live action film, crashing the AMC app and leaving fans struggling for tickets, especially for IMAX showings. It earned $124.5 million in North America and an estimated $264.1 million globally.
Across the industry, domestic movie ticket sales are up about 10 percent year-on-year, according to Variety.