AMC Theatres is on the verge of bankruptcy and the company is looking to sell stock in order to raise emergency funds to keep the ship afloat. The largest theater chain in the U.S. is attempting to sell nearly $50 million worth of shares, roughly 20 million shares, to help raise some much-needed cash. This comes as the chain continues to see diminishing box office returns in addition to losing a great deal of value in its stock price during 2020.

According to a recent filing with the SEC. Per the filing, AMC is seeking to sell up to 20 million class A shares, which will be offered at a maximum price of $2.39 each. It is estimated that the offering could bring in just shy of $48 million. AMC has around $5 billion in debt and recently revealed that they expect to run out of cash by the end of the year, if not early next year. The company also recently warned investors that the threat of bankruptcy is very real unless they can find a way to raise additional capital to stay afloat. Precisely how much runway this stock offering will get them remains to be seen.

News of the stock sale comes as AMC is set to report its third-quarter earnings. The company's stock was down seven percent, as of this writing, trading at $2.36 per share. Considering AMC stock was trading for an average price of $6.84 in January, that number is hugely telling. To that point, there may not be too many parties out there interested in buying AMC stock right now, considering bankruptcy seems likely at the moment. Should the company end up declaring Chapter 11, that stock would potentially become all but worthless. These are indeed dire times for the movie business.

Movie theaters in the U.S. and throughout much of the world were forced to close in March for months on end. When they eventually reopened for Tenet and The New Mutants, the results were not as good as many in the industry had hoped. To make matters worse, most big releases, such as No Time to Die and Black Widow, were pushed to 2021. Plus, Pixar's Soul is going straight to Disney+, taking another potential blockbuster off the table altogether. To that point, a preliminary third-quarter earnings report stated that AMC earned $119.5 million in revenue during the three-month period ending on September 30. Considering they earned $1.32 billion during that same period in 2019, the decline has been brutal.

There are only a few movies left on the box office calendar for 2020 that can potentially bring moviegoers out in a significant way. Ryan Reynolds' action/comedy Free Guy, Death on the Nile, which serves as a sequel to Murder On the Orient Express, the long-awaited animated sequel The Croods: A New Age and Wonder Woman 1984. Though the Wonder Woman sequel, which is currently set to arrive on Christmas, could easily be delayed again. This news was previously reported by CNBC.