Exhib pair plan selloff in six cities

AMC, Loews to unload 10 plexes

By GABRIEL SNYDER

As the result of an antitrust review of the AMC and Loews merger, which was announced in June and is expected to close early next year, the exhibs will sell 10 theaters in six cities.

The exhib biz is closely monitored by antitrust officials so that one chain does not, in effect, have a monopoly on movies in any particular market. Because Loews and AMC had competitive theaters in several distrib zones, some sell-off was expected (Daily Variety, June 22).

After unloading the 10 theaters -- five each from AMC and Loews, comprising 93 screens total -- the merged company will be left with 437 locations and 5,843 screens in the U.S., making it the second-largest chain after Regal, which has 6,264 screens.

However, several of the theaters now on the auction block are considered strong earners in film-distrib circles. Included on the for-sale list is one of the biggest-grossing theaters in the country, the Loews E-Walk 13 in Gotham.

It is across 42nd Street in Times Square from the AMC Empire 25, which is the biggest-grossing moviehouse in the country.

Also on the list is the AMC Fenway 13 in Boston and the Loews Meridian 16 in Seattle.

Other locations now up for grabs include: in Chicago, the AMC City North 14 and Loews Webster Place 11; in D.C., the AMC Union Station 9 and Loews Wisconsin Ave. 6; in San Francisco, the AMC Kabuki 8 and AMC Van Ness 14; and in Dallas, the Loews Keyston 16.

AMC spokeswoman Melanie Bell said each theater will be sold separately, but one studio distrib exec said, "That's a nice group of theaters. It wouldn't be a bad way to start a circuit."

While Bell referred questions of why any particular theater was being sold to the Dept. of Justice and attorneys general involved, some of the sales puzzled distribs.

Unlike the situation in New York, where the two companies are selling one of two competitive theaters, two theaters that AMC is selling are not competitive with a Loews site. In northern Chicago, AMC and Loews are selling the two dominant theaters in that distrib zone, leaving the merged company with a relatively modest four-plex, the Loews Piper's Alley Theater.

And in San Francisco, AMC's Kabuki and Van Ness are in the same zone and already controlled by the same company, while Loews doesn't have a presence in the zone.