Regal Entertainment Group and AMC Entertainment Inc. are close to launching a joint venture to acquire and release independent movies, according to people familiar with the situation, a part of the business historically dominated by the Hollywood studios.
The move potentially disrupts the longtime and delicate business relationship between theater operators and studios, in which they have acted as partners and divided a movie's box office ticket sales. Instead, the venture would essentially thrust theaters into the studio's role of distributor, turning a partner into a rival as the theaters' own movies compete for screens against those from the studios.
