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Geek Tyrant
5 days ago
- Business
- Geek Tyrant
AMC Theatres Is Adding More Pre-Movie Ads; Is This a Nessassary Evil For Theaters To Survive? — GeekTyrant
If you've ever checked your watch 15-20 minutes into what should've been the start of your movie, only to be greeted by yet another trailer or car commercial, well... buckle up. Starting July 1, AMC Theatres, the biggest movie chain in the world, is adding even more ads before the film actually begins. AMC has inked a deal with National CineMedia Inc. to begin running what's called a 'platinum spot', which will feature an ad shown right before the movie starts, in that final stretch of trailers when the anticipation is peaking. It's an ad that audiences won't miss. This is a move aimed squarely at generating what AMC calls 'vital revenue,' and here's what they had to say about it: '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.' They're not wrong. Regal and Cinemark signed on to this model years ago. AMC was the last holdout. But, after the pandemic ravaged the exhibition industry and with 2024 delivering a mixed bag at the box office, the company is looking for every dollar it can find. Still, it's hard not to feel a little defeated. As a movie fan, you want theaters to thrive. You want AMC to survive because the industry needs it to survive. But making the moviegoing experience worse, especially when it's already fighting the "I'll just wait to stream it" mindset, feels like a step in the wrong direction. It's funny, because AMC's slogan is 'We Make Movies Better' but this will make the movie going experience at their theaters worse. It's not like audiences don't notice. According to AMC's own website: 'The listed runtime is the duration of the feature film. The feature film does not start at the published showtime. There are approximately 20 minutes of preshow material, including trailers, between the published showtime and the start of the feature film.' And now, that 'preshow' just got longer. To be fair, AMC is trying some genuinely good stuff. Discount Wednesdays are coming back, which is a solid move to get casual audiences back in the habit. But commercials? That's just another reason for people to show up late, or skip the theater entirely. This isn't about hating on ads. It's about the core experience. People go to the movies for escape, not to see ads for insurance rates or real estate agents. If the industry really wants to survive, maybe it should focus more on reminding us why we fell in love with movie theaters in the first place, not why we keep showing up 25 minutes late. Source: Bloomberg
Forbes
5 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
AMC Theatres: New Plan Of Ads Before Movies Won't Detract Moviegoers
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 05, 2021. Photo an an AMC theater lobby (Photo by Noam Galai/WireImage) AMC Theaters is confident its new business model of running ads before movies won't discourage filmgoers from coming to movies at the theater chain. AMC announced Wednesday that it has partnered with movie ad company National CineMedia to add a 'platinum spot' with commercial ads before movies, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The ads, of course, will run in addition to the movie trailers that run before shows. '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,' AMC Theatres said in a statement (via THR). 'This is a strong indication that this NCM pre-show initiative does not negatively influence moviegoing habits.' AMC and National CineMedia will share the revenues from the endeavor, THR reported. AMC's ad program with NCM will begin on July 1. 'For the past five years," AMC noted in a statement through a spokesperson to Deadline, 'AMC has sought out crucial revenue that is not reliant on the increase of base ticket prices.' "We've done this through more and better moviegoing enhancements like our significant expansion of PLFs, a greater selection of food and beverage offerings, and the introduction of movie-going merchandise like popcorn buckets and other collectable concession vessels,' AMC said in the statement (via Deadline). NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 09 (Photo by) AMC Theatres is the largest theater chain in the U.S. and Europe. As the largest theater chain worldwide, AMC has 900 theaters that hold 10,000 screens. The company recently noted in a press release that it had a record-breaking Memorial Day weekend holiday at the box office, with 'more than 7 million moviegoers visited an AMC in the United States or an ODEON Cinemas location internationally from Thursday through Monday.' Over the five day, period, which ran from May 22-26 — and saw the openings of Disney's Lilo & Stitch and Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning — 'AMC set all-time weekend records for the Memorial Day holiday for admissions revenue, food & beverage revenue and overall revenue at its domestic locations,' the press release noted. The theater chain added that May 22-26 was the most attended weekend of 2025 and marked its highest-attended Memorial Day weekend since 2013.
