AMC Entertainment To Raise $500 Million To Refinance Debt

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterThese days, Tom Holland is never too far from the top of box office charts.The “Spider-Man: No Way Home” actor is returning to theaters this weekend as a different kind of vigilante in Sony’s “Uncharted,” an action adventure based on the popular video game. The film is expected to make $27 million between Friday and Sunday and $30 million through President’s Day on Monday. Some box office prognosticators believe “Uncharted” could reach $35 million in its first four days in theaters.

Wilson Chapman editorForbes Entertainment and Entertainment One have partnered to produce multiple projects based on the alleged bitcoin laundering operation of Heather Morgan and Ilya Lichtenstein, the companies announced Wednesday.As reported by The New York Times, Morgan and Lichtenstein were arrested on Feb. 8 under charges relating to a 2016 hack of the Bitcoin virtual currency exchange.

The bitcoin money laundering scandal, which has made headlines in the national news recently, will be the subject of two projects from Entertainment One and Forbes Entertainment. The companies have teamed to produce a scripted series and a documentary about the scandal following the Feb. 8 arrest in Manhattan of so-called “crypto couple,” Heather Morgan and Ilya “Dutch” Lichtenstein, who are awaiting trial on charges alleging they tried to launder $3.6 billion in stolen bitcoin. The scripted project is co-produced by eOne, Forbes Entertainment and Tucker Tooley Entertainment, and the documentary hails from eOne’s Blackfin and Forbes Entertainment.

Kendrick Lamar is set to perform new music during a headline show in Milan, Italy, this summer.The Compton rapper is thought to be working on the long-awaited follow-up to his April 2017 album ‘DAMN.’, though speculation about a possible new single emerging before his performance at the Super Bowl Halftime Show last weekend went unfounded.Lamar has now announced a new live date at the Ippodromo SNAI San Siro in Milan as part of the Milano Summer Festival. The rapper is set to perform on June 23, where he will showcase new material.When translated from Italian, a description on the festival organisers’ website reads: “Kendrick Lamar returns to Italy with a super anticipated show which, produced and distributed by Vivo Concerti, will see him perform – after 8 years from his first performance in Italy, in 2014 – at the Milan Summer Festival (Ippodromo Snai) [on] Thursday 23 June 2022”.A post shared by Milano Summer Festival (@milanosummerfestival)The description then promises that Lamar “will play the pieces of the new album, long awaited by the fans” during his Milan show.You can find tickets and more information about Lamar’s Milan gig by heading here.The rapper has not announced any further tour dates at the time of writing.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“The Battle at Lake Changjin II” passed $500 million in total sales and remained unchallenged atop the mainland Chinese box office over the latest weekend.Data from consultancy Artisan Gateway showed no positional change among the top five films on a weekend that came a week after the Chinese New Year holiday wound down. Bona’s “Lake Changjin II” earned $43.5 million over the Friday to Sunday weekend, ahead of comedy “Too Cool to Kill” with $37.3 million over the same three days. In third place over the weekend was drama “Nice View” with $21.6 million and animation “Boonie Bears: Back to Earth” with $14.0 million.

The 2022 Super Bowl is TONIGHT and the halftime show is an amazing lineup featuring Dr. Dre, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg, and Kendrick Lamar.

Bob Odenkirk) into criminal lawyer Saul Goodman. Season 6 follows Jimmy, Saul and Gene as well as Jimmy’s complex relationship with Kim (Seehorn), who is in the midst of her own existential crisis.

Naman Ramachandran Simon Thomas, veteran ITV America unscripted and international producer, has been named president of ITV Entertainment and will also serve as ITV America’s head of international programming.Thomas, previously executive VP of current programming, west coast, for ITV America, has executive produced all U.S. seasons of “Love Island,” as well as new series “My Mom, Your Dad” and the upcoming “Rat in the Kitchen.” Earlier, he worked on “I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!” for U.K. broadcaster ITV, the original U.K.

EXCLUSIVE: Vertical Entertainment has acquired North American rights to Celine Held and Logan George’s feature directorial debut Topside, slating it for a day-and-date release on March 25.

AMC Entertainment has hired former Frito-Lay, Pepsico and Hostess Brands executive Ellen Copaken to the new position of Vice President, Growth Strategy to lead recently announced initiatives like entering the retail popcorn industry.

EXCLUSIVE: Clay Epstein’s Film Mode Entertainment (FME) has bolstered its slate for the virtual European Film Market (EFM) with several fresh titles.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterFox Entertainment has acquired the rights to the Gumby franchise.The deal was made between Fox and the estate of Joseph Clokey, the son of Gumby creator Art Clokey. It gives Fox all rights to Gumby and associated characters across film, television and streaming, consumer products, licensing, publishing, and all other categories.“Competition for globally recognized intellectual property is fierce,” said Charlie Collier, CEO of Fox Entertainment. “Uncovering this gem, with its built-in awareness and affinity, and bringing it to Fox, adds meaningful value and creative possibilities to the IP itself and to multiple divisions of our company.

AMC Entertainment has reached lease deals for two major-market, former ArcLight locations. In the San Diego market, AMC will reopen AMC UTC 14 at Westfield UTC, located in La Jolla, on Thurs., February 10. In the Washington, D.C. market, the giant chain will reopen AMC Montgomery 16 at Westfield Montgomery, with an expected opening date in March.

Manori Ravindran International EditorIf Ted Lasso were a film executive, he’d probably resemble someone like Marc Goldberg, the CEO of U.K. producer-distributor Signature Entertainment.Goldberg’s favorite football team since he was a kid has been West Ham United, and — in a cosmic alignment befitting the popular Apple TV Plus series — the club’s owner, David Sullivan, happens to be a stakeholder in Signature.In Goldberg’s early career as a DVD salesman, he managed to convince a corporate client that buying an executive box at West Ham would come in handy when entertaining customers.

highest quarter in two years but still lost over $100 million, despite revenue soaring in Q4 2021 compared to the same time in 2020 when many theaters remained shuttered ahead of the vaccines. AMC also had some help throughout the pandemic thanks to its position as a “meme stock” from retail traders, which enabled the company to sell shares at an inflated price.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorMNTN, the connected-TV advertising company that owns Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort creative agency, announced a $119 million in Series D financing.The round, which closed in the fourth quarter of 2021, was co-led by funds and accounts managed by BlackRock and Fidelity, which collectively invested approximately $110 million.MNTN (pronounced “mountain”) was founded in 2009 as SteelHouse before rebranding last year. Previously, the company had raised about $65 million in funding from investors including Baroda Ventures, Greycroft Partners, Mercato Partners, Qualcomm and Rincon Venture Partners.The funding comes after MNTN announced the acquisition Maximum Effort in June 2021. In January, the company bought QuickFrame, an original video creation platform with thousands of creators, who produce video spots for over 1,000 clients across 20 categories.

Giant theater chain AMC Entertainment said it expects revenue for the three months that ended in December jumped to $1.17 billion from $162.5 million the year before in preliminary numbers released Tuesday morning.

Theater-chain AMC Entertainment shared an unaudited version of its fourth-quarter 2021 financials on Tuesday, revealing a net loss of between $194.8 million and $114.8 million.In terms of revenue, however, AMC soared from $162.5 million in the three months ended Dec. 31, 2020 to $1.17 billion in Q4 2021.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaLegendary Entertainment has sold a $760 million equity stake to Apollo, the companies announced on MondayThe pact gives the investment giant a minority ownership position in the studio behind “Dune” and “Godzilla vs. Kong.” In July, Variety broke the news that Legendary was exploring a possible sale and merger and had abandoned an earlier plan to merge with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).Wanda, which bought Legendary in 2016 for $3.5 billion, will continue to have a stake in the company.