Magic Johnson Theatres Magic Johnson Theatres Magic Johnson Theatres is a chain of movie theaters, originally developed in 1994 by Johnson Development Corporation, the business holding of basketball player-turned-entrepreneur Magic Johnson, and Sony Pictures Entertainment through a partnership with Sony-Loews Theatres. A 1998 merger between Sony-Loews and Cineplex Odeon Corporation caused them to become part of the new Loews Cineplex Entertainment Corp. Currently the chain's former locations are owned by AMC Theatres, after Sony-Loews was acquired by that company in 2006. Although they are still branded Magic Johnson Theatres, they are solely controlled by AMC. Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Jr., is no longer actively
Magic Johnson that they, too, were at risk". At the time, only a small percentage of HIV-positive American men had contracted it from heterosexual sex, and it was initially rumored that Johnson was gay or bisexual, although he denied both. Johnson later accused Isiah Thomas of spreading the rumors, a claim Thomas denied. Johnson's HIV announcement became a major news story in the United States, and in 2004 was named as ESPN's seventh-most memorable moment of the previous 25 years. Many articles praised Johnson as a hero, and former U.S. President George H. W. Bush said, "For me, Magic is a hero,