In this April 29, 2020 file photo, the AMC sign appears at AMC Burbank 16 movie theater complex in Burbank, Calif. AMC Theaters, the nation’s largest chain, is pushing back its plans to begin reopening theaters by two weeks. The company said Monday that it would open approximately 450 U.S. locations on July 30 and the remaining 150 the following week. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
By Lindsey Bahr
AMC Theaters, the nation's largest chain, is pushing back its plans to begin reopening theaters by two weeks following the closure because of COVID-19. The company said Monday that it would open approximately 450 U.S. locations on July 30 and the remaining 150 the following week.
The company had planned to begin opening theaters in mid-July, but last week the July theatrical release calendar was effectively wiped clean when Disney and Warner Bros. decided to delay the releases of Mulan and Tenet to August dates.
AMC CEO and President Adam Aron said that its general managers across the U.S. started working full-time Monday to get their buildings ready to reopen.
"We continue to devote extraordinary resources into our plan to operate our theatres with a hyper commitment to the safety and health of our guests and associates," Aron said in a statement.
Most indoor U.S. theaters have been closed since mid-March because of the coronavirus pandemic. But both independent locations and major chains are readying to reopen within the next month.
However plans could continue to change given the surge of cases in a number of states. Last week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said New York would delay reopening cinemas while it continued to research the safety of indoor, air-conditioned venues."
AMC expects its approximately 1,000 worldwide locations to be open by early August.
About 780,000 pressure washers sold at retailers like Home Depot are being recalled across the U.S. and Canada, due to a projectile hazard that has resulted in fractures and other injuries among some consumers.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
Ford is recalling more than 355,000 of its pickup trucks across the U.S. because of an instrument panel display failure that’s resulted in critical information, like warning lights and vehicle speed, not showing up on the dashboard.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
