Adam Aron, CEO of AMC Theaters, expressed optimism about the mega-exhibitor coming through Friday’s Writers Guild of America strike during the company’s earnings call.
“We are very sympathetic to the real issues out there for Writers Guild members. Streaming has changed the landscape of television, changed the economics of what writers earn. We are hopeful that the Hollywood producers and the Writers Guild can work in good faith on a solution that works for all parties,” Aron said after the release of his company’s first-quarter financial results.
But he argued that only a long Hollywood strike by screenwriters would disrupt the flow of movies to consumers as they head to the local multiplex or watch tentpoles on their living room couch, since many movie projects have already completed production.
“If this is a short strike – I mean months – its impact will be felt mainly in the television programs, because the films for (20)23 and (20)24 are almost written. In many cases they have already been filmed. And I think only a very prolonged writers’ strike would have a material impact on the movie industry or AMC,” he added.
WGA members picked up this week in Los Angeles and New York City as their guild holds talks with American film and TV producers about fair pay in the streaming era.
The release schedule for upcoming movies from AMC Theaters includes Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3; The Little Mermaid, Elemental, FAST X, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, The Flash, Indiana Hones and the Dial of Destiny, Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, Oppenheimer, Blue Beetle, Gran TurismO, Haunted House, Barbie And Joy Ride.
