AMC Empire 25

234 W. 42nd Street,
New York, NY 10036

Unfavorite 79 people favorited this theater

Showing 26 - 50 of 782 comments

xbs2034
xbs2034 on March 5, 2021 at 9:48 pm

In addition to Lincoln Square, this theater will also be showing Tenet in IMAX beginning on March 12

Comfortably Cool
Comfortably Cool on February 23, 2021 at 6:08 am

According to Governor Andrew Cuomo, movie theaters in the five boroughs of New York City can reopen on March 5th at 25% capacity, with no more than 50 people per screen. Details of the announcement here

rayman29
rayman29 on January 28, 2021 at 11:22 pm

Empire will stay open no matter what. Given its size and its location, even if AMC ceased operations nationally or just this location, another company would step in. I could see E-Walk closing because it’s so close to Empire. But that’s the main reason. While I think movie theaters will never go away, soon there will be be a lot less than it was just before the pandemic. In a smaller maket Enpire would be the one more likely to close, but in Manhattan, there’s still enough demand for 25 screens, but 38 might soon be too many.

TYoung
TYoung on January 28, 2021 at 2:11 pm

@CorusFTW. This theatre will probably reopen. Pre-pandemic it was routinely the top grossing theatre in the country and regal across the street was similarly busy for 13 screens. I would expect both to reopen and survival would depend on how quickly people return to movies in general or the landlord.

CorusFTW
CorusFTW on January 28, 2021 at 8:07 am

Theatre rivalries are a bit common for America. Why is AMC keeping this massive 25 screen megaplex when it’s across from the smaller Regal E-Walk 13? After the pandemic eventually ends, which do you guys think would permanently close?

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on January 25, 2021 at 8:09 pm

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-01-25/amc-theatres-raising-cash-bankruptcy-covid

Comfortably Cool
Comfortably Cool on January 25, 2021 at 6:08 am

The CEO of AMC Entertainment discussed the grim future of movie theatres in a recent New York Times article viewable here

moviebuff82
moviebuff82 on January 2, 2021 at 9:17 am

Come March it will be one year since this theater and many others in NYC and other affected areas of New York State were closed and still are due to the pandemic if the vaccine helps stop the spread of the virus and make it go away. AMC is in dire straits and is raising money to help starve off bankruptcy. 10 years ago AMC survived the recession that occured from that year until late 2002 and was taken private for the first time two years later by JPMorgan and Apollo until Wanda took over in 2012 and made AMC public again in 2015; since then its stock has trended downward.

moviebuff82
moviebuff82 on December 21, 2020 at 5:33 am

If Cinemark takes over this and other struggling AMCs in Manhattan where they were closed and still are due to the pandemic, it will give Cinemark an edge in the area and put them into Manhattan for the first time. The regal across the street will still be a regal even after it reopens when conditions are safe.

walterk
walterk on October 28, 2020 at 5:49 pm

Mike (saps), if you want to to italicize something, check this out:

https://www.wikihow.com/Italicize-Text-in-HTML

Steps 3-5 are all you need on CT to make it happen.

Mike (saps)
Mike (saps) on October 28, 2020 at 4:04 pm

My takeaway from this is, I wonder how you italicize something…

moviebuff82
moviebuff82 on October 28, 2020 at 3:47 am

The seat reduction is due to the digital Imax as well as the prime and dolby screens.

ridethectrain
ridethectrain on September 21, 2020 at 12:04 pm

Please update, seating is about 4024 seats (this does include the seat reduction in 1, 8 and 18

moviebuff82
moviebuff82 on June 26, 2020 at 5:58 am

This theater may not reopen by the middle of july due to the governor not allowing theaters and gyms to open during the next phase of recovery. Not only that but a few movies have been delayed due to what’s going on. On a lighter note, does anyone remember the Mars cafe? It was a sci-fi restaurant that was a bit like Planet Hollywood.

Ed Solero
Ed Solero on June 24, 2020 at 8:50 pm

That McDonalds, which occupies the main floor of the Candler Building, was not there since 1984. Back in the 80’s that space would have encompasses a few storefronts between the Cine 42nd and the Harris Theatre. The McDonalds I remember from the 80’s was next to the Embassy I, on Seventh Ave. The 42nd St McD’s didn’t open until sometime in the 90’s – maybe even the early 2000’s – after the New Amsterdam and New Victory were reborn.

Mike (saps)
Mike (saps) on June 24, 2020 at 5:37 pm

That McDonald’s on 42nd St. had such a nice flashy marquee, flashing lights and hoopla, I’ll be sorry to see it shut down

moviebuff82
moviebuff82 on June 24, 2020 at 5:25 pm

The McDonald’s restaurant that has been around since 1984 when the Empire theater was around is being closed today for good as it focuses on the newer location a few blocks from the original restaurant. As for the Empire 25, it may not reopen by the 15th given that cases nationally are on the rise.

moviebuff82
moviebuff82 on June 11, 2020 at 9:38 am

even with the reduced seating it’s still AMC’s #1 theater in the US and worldwide.

stevenj
stevenj on June 11, 2020 at 8:08 am

walterk – thanks for the detailed info.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on June 10, 2020 at 7:42 pm

Cinemark said they can profitably operate at 30-35% capacity. Which begs the question, why do all chains charge so much?

walterk
walterk on June 10, 2020 at 7:31 pm

stevenj, even if your local theatre has 1400 seats in the orchestra, they can still only have a maximum audience of 100 under the rules issued by the California Public Health Department Monday. “Movie theaters can have 25% of theater capacity or maximum of 100 attendees, whichever is lower.” You can view an 11 page pdf of the guidelines here, items specific to movie theaters are on pages 11 and 12.

stevenj
stevenj on June 10, 2020 at 3:30 pm

Indeed. This theater has 3699 so hopefully, even with limited capacity it will eventually come back ok. But the smaller and/or independent theaters (of any size) are likely to have problems. My closest local theater (an independent) has 1400 seats but in the past only the orchestra floor seating was open. Seems they were doing a good business with their varied programming up until the shutdowns but may have to reopen the balcony to increase the capacity.

robboehm
robboehm on June 10, 2020 at 12:48 pm

But limited capacity when there are fewer than a hundred seats spells trouble.

stevenj
stevenj on June 10, 2020 at 12:06 pm

robboehm Parts of California, yes. But the governor has allowed counties or groups of counties in the same geographical area to supercede state covid regulations based on public health data. We have been told here in the Bay Area that reopening will be very slow. In SF where I live the mayor has said “August” for theaters reopening (that could change) and at that only limited capacity allowed.