15-cent ticket gets you into movies

NEW YORK — AMC Theatres, the largest movie theatre chain in the U.S., will reopen on Aug. 20 with retro ticket prices of 15 cents per movie.

AMC Entertainment, which owns the chain, said Thursday that it expects to open the doors to more than 100 cinemas — or about a sixth of its U.S. locations — on Aug. 20 with throwback pricing for a day.

AMC theatres have reopened in numerous international countries but have remained shuttered in the U.S. since March. The chain touted the reopening as “Movies in 2020 at 1920 Prices.”

After several false starts due to a summer rise in coronavirus cases throughout much of the U.S., widespread moviegoing is currently set to resume in late August. Regal Cinemas, the second-largest chain, is to reopen some U.S. locations on Aug. 21.

During its opening-day promotion, AMC will show catalogue films, including Ghostbusters, Black Panther, Back to the Future and Grease. Those older films will continue to play afterward for $5.

AMC confirmed that Disney’s much-delayed New Mutants will debut in theatres Aug. 28, with Christopher Nolan’s Tenet to follow Sept. 3. Warner Bros. is planning to release Tenet a week earlier internationally, including in Canada.

A handful of smaller new releases are also planned for late August, including Unhinged, a thriller from Solstice Studios with Russell Crowe; and Armando Iannucci’s Personal History of David Copperfield, from Disney’s Fox Searchlight.

AMC said Thursday is expects about two thirds of its theatres will be open in time for Tenet.

Several states, including California and New York, have not yet allowed movie theatres to reopen.

AMC and other chains have said they will operate at reduced capacity to facilitate social distancing, along with increased theatre cleaning and required mask wearing.