NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 05, 2021. Photo an an AMC theater lobby (Photo by Noam Galai/WireImage)
AMC Theatres 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 Noam Galai/Getty Images)
How Big Is The AMC Theatres Chain?
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.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/timlammers/2025/06/05/amc-theatres-new-plan-of-ads-before-movies-wont-detract-moviegoers/