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June Domestic Box Office Likely to Set Up Best Second-Quarter Post COVID-19, B. Riley Says

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June Domestic Box Office Likely to Set Up Best Second-Quarter Post COVID-19, B. Riley Says

US box office revenue in June is likely to come in higher than previously projected, potentially setting up the best second-quarter performance after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to B. Riley Securities.

Figures for the current ending month show box office collections are likely to come in at $1.05 billion, climbing 27% year over year and ahead of the brokerage's prior forecast of $1 billion, it said in a client note emailed Tuesday.

B. Riley cited ongoing momentum for certain releases in May, such as the Comcast (CMCSA)-owned Universal Pictures' "Obsession" and the A24-distributed "Backrooms," behind the upgrade.

The performance is expected to result in a quarterly domestic box office of around $3 billion, representing an annual gain of 10% and the "best (second quarter) post-COVID," B. Riley Managing Director Drew Crum said in the note. This would be a "positive for all names across our universe," especially AMC Entertainment (AMC), Cinemark (CNK) and Marcus (MCS), according to Crum.

AMC shares edged down 0.3% in Tuesday trade, while Cinemark and Marcus declined 2% each.

Box office collections totaled $155.2 million over the weekend, led by Walt Disney's (DIS) "Toy Story 5" with $70.8 million, according to BoxOfficeMojo, owned by Amazon (AMZN) company IMDb. Momentum for the film was "muted by an equity offering" by AMC, B. Riley said.

Last week, AMC closed its registered direct offering of 95.3 million common shares for gross proceeds of around $200 million.

Warner Bros.' (WBD) "Supergirl" raked in an estimated $37.1 million, which the brokerage views as "underwhelming" when compared with its reported $170 million production budget. Imax (IMAX) took in nearly $8 billion of the film's domestic box office, or roughly 20%, "representing its highest domestic opening weekend index of any superhero title" in the theater company's history, according to B. Riley.

Price: $2.01, Change: $-0.02, Percent Change: -0.99%

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