"People just so want to get out of their houses," Adam Aron told CNBC as he looked beyond cinema closures amid the COVID-19 crisis to the local multiplex possibly reopening this summer.
AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron is forecasting that shuttered U.S. movie theaters may reopen by mid-June.
That's after the U.S. market's largest cinema chain closed all 600 of its stateside locations on March 17 as the coronavirus outbreak spread domestically. "We said we expected to be shut for six to 12 weeks. That would be May 1 to mid-June. That might be more the right timing," Aron told CNBC's Squawk Alley show on Tuesday.
His prediction fell at the outer edge of AMC's original range. Aron added that no one could forecast cinema reopenings with precision.
AMC closing all of its movie screens was followed around 26,000 employees being furloughed or let go. That included all of its 600 corporate employees and CEO Aron.
Aron on Tuesday insisted stay-at-home Americans were likely to flock to the local multiplex once the COVID-19 crisis lifted. "I think if we learned anything in the last two weeks is people just so want to get out of their houses. I think we’re all feeling cooped up and want to get out and have life return to normal," Aron argued.
But he also cautioned Americans needed to reach the end of coronavirus outbreak before they stopped sheltering in their homes and movie theaters could reopen.
A spokesperson for Cineplex, Canada's largest cinema chain, said it was too early to speculate on when its own movie screens will reopen after they too where shuttered amid the coronavirus outbreak.
"We will continue to take our lead from government and public health authorities, and we will reopen our theatres and entertainment venues across Canada when they tell us it is safe to do so," Cineplex said in a statement.
