“We come to this place…for magic,” Nicole Kidman famously tells AMC Theatres patrons in a viral promotion for the chain. But starting this week audiences will half to wade through a lot more shilling for everything from fast food to Fresca before they experience any cinematic stardust.
Indeed, AMC’s decision to increase the number of ads before screenings epitomizes the concept of short-term gain in exchange for long-term pain. It provides the cinema giant with much-needed revenue at a time when the exhibitor is strapped for cash and laboring under nearly $4 billion in debt, and it comes as Hollywood is still struggling to consistently produce movies that people want to see.
But it also chips away at the overall experience of going to the movies, making it increasingly indistinguishable from the parts of the home entertainment experience that people resent — namely ads. Yes, streaming services, similarly in need of fresh cash, have begun to introduce lower-cost, ad-supported subscription models. Many of these offerings have been popular, but customers know that they are enduring spots for Geritol and Mountain Dew before watching their favorite series in order to save a few bucks. They are getting what they paid for, which is not the case with moviegoing, where ticket prices have consistently increased, helping to paper over an overall decline in attendance.
Although surveys suggest people are still cost-conscious when it comes to deciding whether to hit up the local multiplex, when they do opt to see a movie on the big screen, they tend to like extra bells and whistles. Indeed, movies have decreased in popularity post-COVID, but premium formats, like Imax, have dominated ticket sales. At the same time, movie theaters (at least the ones who aren’t teetering on the verge of collapse) have outfitted their locations with better food and cocktails.
What does that tell us? It suggests that audiences are looking for a more premium experience when they hit up their local multiplexes, not one that mirrors an evening spent on the couch watching “Rizzoli & Isles” reruns on Pluto TV.
Of course, these enhanced sound systems, plusher seating and wider screens cost money, and that’s been in short supply at multiplexes. To its credit, before signing a new deal with National CineMedia, AMC has resisted the push to load up its pre-shows with even more ads than it currently shows. In 2019, AMC slammed the company’s proposal to increase the number of commercials, arguing that it feared that “U.S. moviegoers would react quite negatively to the concept.” However, rivals like Regal and Cinemark didn’t have the same reservations and agreed to show more spots as part of the pact with National CineMedia. They reported no perceptible impact on attendance. That’s compelling data for AMC, which must find it hard to keep passing up the extra dough, especially after it recently reported its worst quarter in nearly 30 years.
Moreover, it’s not like showing ads before movies is anything new. The process has steadily gained in popularity since the late ’80s and has become nearly ubiquitous. Many moviegoers now know they don’t need to show up when a film is scheduled to start, unless they want to be subjected to one spot after another. However, little by little, this is effort to wring out every cent that exhibitors can from their screens has made going to the movies less special and less distinctive. When you hear AMC or the name of most major theater chains, does your mind conjure up images of glittering movie palaces? Or do you think about broken escalators, messy bathrooms, sticky seats, and stupid word-scramblers and soft drink ads that play on a loop before you see a frame of the film you paid to watch?
Movie theaters aren’t wholly to blame for the sorry state of their industry. Studios, obsessed with making sequels and spinoffs until they run their franchises into the ground, haven’t done enough to produce compelling content for them to offer. And the popularity of streaming has hurt every movie theater, no matter how lovingly or indifferently they are run. The movie business needs great movies if it hopes to succeed, and theaters can’t control that — they exist as showcases for a product that others manufacture.
Movie theaters do play an important role in getting ticket buyers excited for coming attractions, showing previews and bedazzling their lobbies with posters and standup art. The good news is that surveys suggest that moviegoers are eager to see trailers, with 81% of people polled in a 2023 Fandango study reacting favorably to those spots. However, that enthusiasm doesn’t extend to ads for other goods, with 67% of moviegoers wishing the commercials they saw were shorter. Instead, AMC and other theaters are choosing not to pay attention to what their audiences are saying by offering them more of what they hate. Theater owners have privately noted that all the extra commercials on top of the trailers that are routinely shown makes for a very long night at the movies. They note that people already have to budget upwards of four hours to drive, park, buy snacks, and then sit through lots of commercials. It’s a lot to ask in an era of instant gratification.
The pandemic reshaped moviegoing. To their credit, movie theaters have shown a willingness to innovate. They have looked at dynamic pricing, offered more discounts on weekdays, enhanced loyalty programs, and, after initially allowing studios to shrink the theatrical window, pressured Hollywood to extend the amount of time that movies play exclusively in cinemas.
Exhibitors understand that they must evolve or they will die. Given those existential stakes, is larding up on ads, really giving the customer what they want?
To me, it’s pretty clear that this is not the kind of magical experience that Kidman had in mind.
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