Why "Black Widow" Is Terrible News for AMC

Movies are back. Er, sort of.

Disney's (NYSE: DIS) Black Widow set a new pandemic-era record, bringing in $80 million at the domestic box office on its opening weekend. While that might sound like good news for AMC Entertainment (NYSE: AMC) and other movie theater companies, there's a catch.

Disney also took home more than $60 million on its streaming service Disney+, selling the movie at a premium of $30 a pop. Though box office receipts were larger than the streaming sales, Disney gets to keep all of its streaming sales whereas studios generally split the box office haul 60/40 with exhibitors on blockbuster releases (the split is 50/50 for average releases). In other words, Disney only got $48 million over the weekend from domestic theaters, less than the $60 million from Disney+. That's a problem for AMC.

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Source Fool.com