Despite receiving mixed reviews for various reasons, it seems Wonder Woman 1984 still has a success story to share. After being one of the few films cleared to show in cinemas, the superhero sequel has apparently been a bit of a shot in the arm for the theater industry, boosting stocks for several of the COVID-affected companies.

Stocks rose between 3% and 7% for various theater owners following the premiere of Wonder Woman 1984, with companies like Cinemark and IMAX breathing a bit of a sigh of relief at the boost. Reviews aside, the movie itself brought in a substantial $16.7 million in the U.S., placing it among the top-earning films to be released during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Unfortunately, it appears this boon to theater owners hasn't extended to AMC, which has seen a 5% drop in its own stocks since the film's release. While this is a less than ideal situation, it isn't necessarily surprising, as AMC has been facing particularly hard financial woes throughout 2020 and especially in recent months. After months of speculation on AMC possibly going broke by 2021, this latest dip appears to be only the most recent point in a trend.

This general stock bump comes on the heels of WarnerMedia's controversial recent decision to release all of its upcoming films on HBO Max the same day they each respectively hit theaters. Many in the industry criticized this move for the potential revenue loss theaters would likely suffer, as well as the implications of restricting such a large selection of movies to one platform.

However, while many analysts speculate that WarnerMedia will reverse course on that particular decision, the rise in stocks may lend credence to the idea that the HBO Max deal isn't as harmful as many expected. After all, this sort of positive result in the face of such practices could be seen as a disproval of the criticisms, at least to certain parties.

Of course, that's just from an outsider's perspective. A single instance can easily be a fluke, and AMC's own financial woes can still prove the theory. The long term effects of the HBO Max decision as well as the pandemic itself still have yet to be observed, so leaving things up to speculation may not be particularly helpful. For now, it may be good to see the stock bump as an indicator of how the industry might recover once audiences begin going back in larger numbers.

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Source: Deadline