S&P Global Cuts Cash-Strapped AMC Entertainment Credit Rating, Doubts Theaters Will Reopen In June

The state of Georgia is aiming to be among the first to restart its economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. But in the state’s sizable entertainment sector, nobody is raring to get back to work just yet.

Studios and exhibitors alike are itching to get back to business, but there are big changes ahead for understandably nervous filmgoers.

By Jill Goldsmith

Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy joined actor Jack McBrayer online on Thursday night to launch a new comedy live-stream series.

Cash-strapped exhibitor AMC Entertainment on Thursday said it will raise $500 million in new debt to bolster its balance sheet liquidity. "AMC intends to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes, including further increasing AMC’s liquidity," the cinema chain said in a statement about the senior notes due in 2025 to be offered via a private offering.

By Adam B. Vary

Chicago Fire's Brett (Kara Killmer) and Casey (Jesse Spencer) are like peanut butter and chocolate: They just fit together so well. Over the last few seasons, they've formed an even tighter bond while facing stressful life changes, like Casey's divorce and Brett's engagement to Chaplain Kyle (Teddy Sears).

Kaley Cuoco spoke candidly about her late “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter” co-star, John Ritter. Cuoco, known best for her role on the long-running CBS sitcom “Big Bang Theory,” got her start in 2002 alongside the “Three’s Company” TV legend.

Chicago Fire's Brett (Kara Killmer) and Casey (Jesse Spencer) are like peanut butter and chocolate: They just fit together so well. Their tight bond will carry over into Season 9 as Brett deals with the fallout from her recent family issues.

Cinemark CEO Mark Zoradi on Wednesday predicted it will take up to four months for shuttered cinema screens to fully reopen as the COVID-19 crisis recedes, likely starting July 1. "A return to normalcy may span multiple months driven by staggered theater openings due to government limits, reduced operating hours, lingering social distancing and a ramp-up of consumer comfort with public gatherings," Zoradi said on a morning call to update Wall Street analysts.

More than friends? It’s definitely leaning that way. Chicago P.D. fans have been hopeful for Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer) and Hailey Upton’s (Tracy Spiridakos) working relationship to turn into something more — and it sounds like that could happen in season 8.

Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time and still one of the most recognizable people in the world, almost 20 years after his final retirement from basketball. He's been the subject of bestselling books like The Jordan Rules and When Nothing Else Matters and his own 30 for 30 documentary, Jordan Rides the Bus, about his time playing baseball in 1994.

Chicago P.D.'s Season 7 finale will be one to remember. Wednesday's episode, airing at 10/9c on NBC, finds Atwater (LaRoyce Hawkins) in a difficult position as he comes face to face with Tom Doyle (Mickey O'Sullivan), the racist police offer who put a gun to his head in Season 6's "Night in Chicago." Suffice it to say, this reunion won't be a particularly pleasant one for either man.

S&P Global Ratings on Monday reduced its credit rating for Endeavor Operating Co. over concerns for its high-borrowing strategy and exposure to the bottom dropping out of its live events market as a result of a global pandemic.

Fitch Ratings has downgraded the credit rating for exhibition giant Cinemark Holdings over concerns that current theater closures amid the coronavirus pandemic will last until June "at the earliest." "Additionally, Fitch remains concerned over the company's ability to quickly return to a normalized course of operations due to either changes in consumer behavior or additional public health mandates that limit theater attendance capacity," the ratings agency said Thursday in a ratings note.

"The Big Bang Theory" actress married Cook in 2018, but she told US late night TV host Jimmy Kimmel they still weren't officially living together when they were told to start self-isolating in a bid to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, reports aceshowbiz.com.

American folk and country singer, John Prine, passed away at the age of 73 due to complications from Coronavirus. He was hospitalised after showing sudden COVID 19 symptoms on March 26 and was kept in the intensive care for 13 days before he succumbed to the virus on April 7. John’s family confirmed the tragic news to Variety. John was born and raised on the outskirts of Chicago. 1996, he was drafted into the US Army and was stationed in Germany during the Vietnam War. 

LOS ANGELES — Grammy-winning singer John Prine, who wrote his early songs in his head while delivering mail and later emerged from Chicago’s folk revival scene in the 1970s to become one of the most influential songwriters of his generation, died on Tuesday, the New York Times reported. He was 73.

John Prine wrote country-folk songs with an unpretentious, aw-heck demeanor that belied their astonishing gravity and power. “He sings rather quietly, and his guitar work is good, but he doesn’t show off,” Roger Ebert wrote of an early Prine show in 1970. “After a song or two, even the drunks in the room begin to listen to his lyrics. And then he has you.”

By Tom Grater