Hurricane Sandy: Hundreds of East Coast Movie Theaters Still Closed

10:47 AM PDT 10/30/2012 by Pamela McClintock

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UPDATED: Box office revenues could be down by as much as 25 percent, representing millions of dollars in losses; all AMC Theaters in Manhattan and Long Island will remain closed through Tuesday.

About 300 movie theaters stretching from the nation's capital to Boston remained dark Tuesday in the wake of superstorm Sandy.

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There's no word yet on when they'll reopen; the hardest-hit areas are New York City, Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut, and it could be days before all theaters there reopen.

As of Tuesday morning, AMC Entertainment said that 79 of its theaters were closed. The circuit operates a total of 483 locations in North America.

AMC announced midday that all theaters in Manhattan and Long Island would remain dark through Tuesday, while Boston and Connecticut theaters will reopen by early evening.

In terms of loss, domestic box-office revenue could take a 25 percent hit because of the closures. Revenue came in at roughly $6 million Monday vs. $10 million a year ago (though some of that 39 percent decline was because of an overall soft market).

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Theaters in Washington and Boston could be back online later Tuesday or Wednesday, helping to mitigate the damage.

New York City and Los Angeles are the busiest moviegoing markets in the country, with each contributing 10 to 12 percent of overall grosses.

As long as New York City theaters and suburban New Jersey remain closed -- not to mention multiplexes in low-lying coastal areas -- grosses will continue to suffer.