AMC Kips Bay 15, Manhattan's Second-Largest Multiplex, to Close at End of 2026

AMC Kips Bay 15, the second-largest multiplex in Manhattan, will shut its doors at the end of 2026 after the property owner exercised a contractual right to terminate the theatre's lease ahead of its scheduled expiration, Variety reports.

The 15-screen cinema, located on the east side of Midtown, opened in 1999. AMC took over operations in 2006, and the venue built a loyal following for its broad film programming and a large Imax screen that drew crowds to blockbusters and specialised releases alike. A formal closure date has not yet been set; AMC said one will be announced in the coming months.

For New York moviegoers, the loss is tangible. Kips Bay was one of the few Manhattan multiplexes that reliably mixed wide studio releases with a wider range of titles — the kind of screen where a Christopher Nolan thriller in 70mm could sit alongside a platforming indie. When Tenet finally opened in New York City theatres in 2021, Kips Bay was among the venues that carried it, alongside AMC Lincoln Square, AMC Empire, Village East by Angelika and Showcase Cinemas Jamaica, Variety reported.

The closure comes against a broader retrenchment for AMC. As of early 2026, the company had already shuttered 213 theatre locations, though it did not provide a list of further planned closures, Fast Company reported. In late January 2026, Reuters reported that AMC expected another loss and had struck a deal with its creditors — a sign of the financial pressure still bearing down on the world's largest cinema chain as it navigates a post-pandemic landscape that has permanently altered how and where audiences watch films.

AMC's remaining Manhattan footprint will include six locations: 19th Street 6, Village 7, Lincoln Square 13, Orpheum 7, 84th Street 6 and Magic Johnson Harlem 9, Variety reports.

Kips Bay was no stranger to change. In 2016, AMC announced reserved seating across all its Manhattan theatres, with Kips Bay undergoing a renovation that autumn to add the feature, Variety reported. Two years later, in 2018, IMAX closed its VR centre at the location — one of three such closures the large-format company announced at the time, Variety reported.

The lease termination was not AMC's call. The property owner acted within its contractual rights, meaning the chain could not renew or renegotiate its way out of the closure. AMC still has six Manhattan theatres to serve the borough's audiences, but the loss of 15 screens on the east side — including one of the island's largest Imax auditoriums — narrows the options for a city that has long treated cinema-going as a communal event rather than a solitary convenience.