OMAR AZIMI

It was recently announced that AMC Theaters, in the United States, Europe, as well in the Middle East, will no longer play films distributed by Universal Pictures (A Comcast Company owned via the NBCUniversal Film and Entertainment division at NBCUniversal).

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This decision was handed down via a letter sent to Universal chairman Donna Langley, stating that “…Therefore, effectively immediately AMC Theaters will no longer play any Universal movies.” (McNary, Variety)

The decision by AMC comes as Universal has seen huge success with the PVOD (Paid Video on Demand) release of “Trolls 2: World Tour,” which was released in the PVOD format in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, which has shuttered theaters worldwide. (McNary, Variety,)

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Moving forward, this affects any movies in Universal Picture’s slate, and is not be construed as a “hollow or ill-considered threat.” In addition, this ban against Universal Pictures is not meant to be exclusive. Rather, AMC is sending the message that “extends to any movie maker who unilaterally abandons current windowing practices absent good faith negotiations between us.” (McNary, Variety)

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A Universal spokesman has defended the company by stating that the ‘Trolls 2’ PVOD release was to “deliver entertainment to people who are sheltering at home, while movie theatres and other forms of outside entertainment are unavailable. Based on the enthusiastic response to the film, we believe we made the right move.” (McNary, Variety)

As a result of the embargo, and without any sort of resolution, AMC Theaters will miss out on showing a number of high-profile films set to debut through 2021, such as F9 (the 9th installment in the Fast & Furious franchise), Halloween Kills on October 16, 2020; as well as Jurassic World: Dominion, which is slated for a June 2021 release.

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At this time, AMC Theaters remains opens to discussions with Universal Pictures. “AMC is willing to sit down with Universal to discuss different windows strategies and different economic models between your company and ours.” (McNary, Variety,

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