Late for the movies? You’ll probably still make it if you’re headed to an AMC movie theater.
AMC Theatres announced this month it would be putting more regular advertisements ahead of movie screenings alongside regular movie trailers, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
It’s typical for patrons to show up at least a few minutes late to the movies, as it’s common for the actual movie to start at least 15 minutes after the scheduled time.
But now, movies won’t start until almost 30 minutes after their scheduled time at AMC Theatres.
In September 2019, Cinemark Theatres and Regal Cinemas — the country’s two largest chains behind AMC Theatres — signed a deal with ad company National CineMedia to show as many as five minutes of commercials after a movie’s official start time, and then air a 30-second to 60-second “Platinum Spot” commercials before the one or last two trailers, the outlet said.
However, after the announcement, AMC reversed course, saying moviegoers would “react quite negatively to the concept.” AMC said it had “no plan to introduce commercial advertising close to the start of a movie’s commencement at its theatres in the United States, nor does AMC envision entering into such an arrangement with NCM anytime in the foreseeable future,” according to the Reporter.
With financial pressures closing in now, though, AMC changed its mind once again.
Movies have decreased in popularity after the pandemic, Variety reported.
AMC told The Hollywood Reporter earlier in the month that its competitors have “fully participated” in this for more than five years “without any direct impact to their attendance.”
“The new deal between AMC and NCM allows both companies to drive new revenues to offset the impact of being hit by the shutdown of cinemas due to the covid pandemic, followed by an at times faltering Hollywood industry recovery since the reopening of theaters and advertising being affected by macro-economic headwinds,” AMC said.
