AMC Theatres Changes Its Mind on Controversial Move

Earlier in the summer, AMC Theatres began running some pre-movie commercials in an attempt to add a little bit of revenue. However, it does not sound like that move went over too well, and it is already backtracking a little bit.

Back in June, AMC Theatres annouced that it would be running a “platinum spot” with pre-movie commercials that would play alongside traditional film trailers as part of a partnership with National CineMedia (NCM).

However, after some pushback from major movie studios, it sounds like AMC has decided to pull back on the ads just a little bit.

Here's a timeline of how it has all played out.

AMC Announced New Commercials

Back in June, AMC announced that it would begin showing pre-show advertisements before its films on July 1, explaining in a statement that many competing cinemas had been doing this for years with no impact on the customers.

“While AMC was initially reluctant to bring this to our theaters, our competitors have fully participated for more than five years without any direct impact to their attendance. This is a strong indication that this NCM pre-show initiative does not negatively influence moviegoing habits,” AMC said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter back in June.

AMC went on to explain that the move would help drive revenue and assist in its continued recovery from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our participation delivers us vital revenue as we continue on our recovery path and allows us to continue offering significant value on ticket prices through initiatives like Discount Tuesday, 20 percent off matinee pricing, and the upcoming 50 percent off Wednesday ticketing program,” AMC added in its statement.

Customers Were Not Happy

Predictably, customers were not exactly happy about the move as the announcement from AMC quickly sparked outrage on social media.

"I show up to every movie 30 minutes after the 'start time' and it is always exactly as the movie is starting. That's already excessive," one customer wrote in a post on X.

"So basically the brand is still dead awesome love to see it," someone else added.

"Great! Everyone loves ads," another user posted sarcastically.

"Just let the public know when the movie starts," another person added.

"That’ll get people back to the theaters lol," someone else wrote sarcastically.

"So when they heard that people were complaining about all of the ads. They took that as let’s increase them! I won’t walk into the theater until 15 minutes after the movie starts. Get popcorn, go to the bathroom and still get there in time for the 3 amc ads," another person added.

Movie Studio Executives Were Not Happy, Either

As a result of the new pre-show commercials, which extended the time between the star time listed on the ticket and the actual beginning of the movie, customers began increasingly showing up to the theater late, skipping the pre-show commercials and the pre-movie trailers.

Needless to say, movie studios were not happy about that.

“If a tree falls it the woods and there’s no one around to hear it, what if a trailer plays in a movie theater and no one sees it? What good does it do?” Sony Motion Pictures Group Chairman & CEO Tom Rothman told Deadline.

Movie trailers have notoriously been one of the most powerful marketing tools for future movie releases and studios sometimes pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for a prime trailer placement. So if customers aren't there to see those trailers, the movie studios are not happy.

“It’s incredibly self-defeating and shortsighted. Since the beginning of the movie business, the single best inducement to see movies is trailers in movie theaters. And now, nobody sees them,” Rothman said.

AMC Reportedly Backtracks, Agrees to Shorten Ads

According to Deadline, AMC Theatres has caved to the movie studio execs and is moving to shorten its pre-show advertisements.

"After some major studios clutched their pearls over AMC Theatres‘ decision to book more ads before each movie’s showtime, sources are telling us that the No. 1 circuit is working to shorten its preshow," Anthony D'Alessandro wrote for Deadline on Wednesday.

"It’s still early and specific details are unknown, but there’s hope that a shave can be done by year’s end."

Ramifications for Customers

While this feels like a win for customers and movie studios alike, there could be some unfortunate side effects for the consumer.

As AMC CEO Adam Aron explained to Deadline when the company made the decision to move forward with the pre-show commercials, AMC felt like it needed the money that the pre-show commercials brought in.

“With the box office as weak as it was back in February when we made the decision, we could no longer afford to pass up the funds that we were offered to do now what has become standard practice by our largest competitors for more than five years,” Aron told Deadline.

Aron explained that the alternative would be to raise ticket prices substantially.

“The alternative to take in the same monies Cinemark and Regal have been getting for years would have been to raise our ticket prices substantially — which would not have generated press coverage but certainly would have been unpopular with our guests,” Aron said.

While the financial impact of shortening the pre-show commercials is not clear, it seems likely that it would mean less money for AMC, which could mean that the company will kick that cost back onto the consumer through increased ticket prices.