AMC Stock Rises Premarket: ‘Project Hail Mary’ Breakout Opening Fuels 70% Ticket Revenue Jump

• The Ryan Gosling-led Amazon MGM Studios release generated over $140 million globally, including more than $80 million domestically.
• AMC said improving box office trends support expectations that 2026 could become the biggest year for theatrical attendance since 2019.
• The company continues to close underperforming theatres and to refinance about $2.5 billion of debt to extend maturities and preserve liquidity.

Shares of AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC) extended gains into premarket trading on Monday after the world’s largest theatrical exhibitor said the ‘Project Hail Mary’ movie drove over a 70% surge in global ticket revenue in the biggest opening weekend of 2026.

AMC stock rose 1% in early premarket trading after climbing over 4% on Monday to finish at $1.02, its best session in nearly two weeks.

AMC Logs Strongest Weekend Of 2026

AMC said the Ryan Gosling-starrer delivered the company’s strongest opening weekend of the year so far and helped generate its second-highest admissions revenue weekend of 2026 across both its U.S. theatres and international ODEON locations.

The Amazon MGM-distributed film recorded a media-reported global opening of more than $140 million, including more than $80 million domestically. The film drew attention as a rare big-budget original sci-fi film, adapted from a bestselling novel by “The Martian” author Andy Weir, positioning it as a potential attendance driver outside traditional franchise titles.

“Project Hail Mary is a terrific example of how original storytelling combined with expert marketing of the theatrical experience can resonate with audiences and deliver meaningful results at the box office,” CEO Adam Aron said in a statement.

Aron noted on X that ‘Project Hail Mary’ is “only one of two non-franchise movies to gross over $80 million in the past decade,” trailing only Oppenheimer in July 2023.

Theatre Attendance Recovery Builds

AMC said the film’s performance adds to the “robust track record” of an increasing box office so far throughout calendar year 2026, adding that the company is “ever more confident that 2026 will wind up being the biggest year since 2019 for moviegoing in theatres.”

The company has repeatedly cited a stronger slate of releases over the next two years as a key driver of attendance recovery following several years of disruption tied to the pandemic and Hollywood strikes.

AMC Navigates Macro Headwinds

The extended gains follow a difficult stretch for AMC shares, which remained near record lows last week, with Aron previously calling the broader backdrop “terrible” amid conflict in the Middle East and oil prices soaring above $100 per barrel.

Despite macro pressures, the company has maintained that improving industry attendance trends and a stronger film pipeline could support earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) growth if the global box office expands relative to 2025.

AMC has also continued working on its operating footprint and balance sheet in recent months, including efforts to close underperforming theatres and refinance roughly $2.5 billion of debt to extend maturities and preserve liquidity as the recovery unfolds.

How Did Stocktwits Users React?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment toward AMC Entertainment Holdings improved to ‘neutral’ from ‘bearish’ levels seen over the past month, alongside nearly a 300% surge in message volume following the ‘Project Hail Mary’ update.

One user said, “AMC is about to have its BEST YEAR OF THE DECADE.”

Another user said trading activity in AMC had remained capped below 30 million shares for nearly two weeks and suggested the reported volumes did not reflect underlying market dynamics, adding that “AMC will go down as the death of Shorting!!”

AMC stock has plunged 66% over the past year.

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