United Artists currently is emerging from bankruptcy and is the nation's sixth-largest movie theater company. The privately held Edwards theater chain, which filed bankruptcy last year, is ranked eleventh nationwide. Regal, based in Knoxville, TN, is not in bankruptcy, although if Anschutz is successful in converting his $345 million in debt into equity--as he has been with United Artists--one strategy would be to take the company into bankruptcy in order to shed some of its older and expensive leases. If he takes control of all three chains, he will own about 6,400 of the 36,000 screens in the nation, giving him an 18% market share, far more than any chain.

Ann Julsen, a spokeswoman for Edwards, would only confirm that the chain currently is only negotiating with one potential buyer. "The company has been looking at a few different investors, potential investors," Julsen says. "We have narrowed the field down to one. But we have no definitive agreement with anyone." She says if the current investor is successful, the Edwards family will "remain significant shareholders" in the restructured company.

Industry experts estimate that Anschutz would have to pay $200 million to $300 million to acquire the company. And any sale must be approved by the bankruptcy court, Julsen points out.