AMC Closed 225 Theaters Then Opened 193 Premium Screens

AMC just had the biggest quarter in its 106-year history. Record revenue of $1.6 billion. Adjusted profit up 70%.

What do all these stats mean?

Somewhere north of 52 million people went to the movies (in the U.S.) within three months, that’s 12% more than the same stretch last year.

Every headline ran the same four words: the movies are back.

Then there’s a line buried further down in their earnings report: Since 2020, AMC has opened 66 theaters and closed 225.

Over the same period, AMC added 77 premium large-format screens and 193 XL auditoriums.

So the movies as we know them aren’t back, exactly.

The cheap theaters left. The expensive ones multiplied. And enough of us paid for the recliner to make it the best quarter the company has ever posted.

Our Movie Experience didn’t get expensive. It just got replaced

eplaced.

This might explain why your night out feels different in a way you can’t quite put a finger on. it

The 225 closures don’t land evenly. The buildings that are gone are the older, smaller, non-premium ones, the second-run place by the mall, the six-screen with the sticky floors and the $6 Tuesday.

The buildings that stay get renovated into something with reserved recliners, a bar, and a laser projector with its own brand name.

So for a lot of people, the closest theater didn’t raise its prices. It closed down, and the one you drive to now was specifically rebuilt to charge more.

You didn’t get priced out. The cheap option got discontinued and replaced with a nicer one.

$12.11 is a real number you have almost certainly never paid

AMC’s average ticket price last quarter was $12.11. Average spend on food and drink was $8.08 a head.

Both numbers are true, and both will feel like a lie to anyone who bought two tickets to a Friday night showing in a premium format.

That’s what an average does. It combines a Tuesday matinee in a small market and an 8pm IMAX seat in a major one into a single figure that describes nobody’s actual evening.

I mean, if you’re in or near a major city, a bag of popcorn alone costs more than $8!!!

Well, I’m shocked: food, drink, and merchandise revenue has gone up 15.3% globally.

The concession stand is growing faster than the crowd.

The business isn’t just selling you more tickets. It’s selling more to each person who shows up.

It's in the works already!

None of this is a conspiracy; it’s already happening, and AMC’s CEO described it in the earnings report himself: the company keeps finding ways to offer discounts to guests hunting for bargains, and that’s exactly what lets it charge premium prices for premium products.

Two menus, one lobby.

Which is genuinely useful to know, because it means the cheap version of a movie night still exists. It’s just no longer the default, and nobody at the box office is going to point you toward it.

Where are the $12 movies?

A few things worth knowing before your next night out. Just make sure you verify current details at your location, since there’s always  changes:

The free tier discount. AMC Stubs Insider costs nothing and gets you 50% off the adult evening base***** ticket price on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

It used to be Tuesdays only. It’s the difference between ~$90 any other night and $30 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays with the discount.

A-List Classic is the sleeper. For a monthly fee, it's $29.99 for me in NY, you can watch up to 4 Movies Every Week at AMC Classic locations nationwide. If a Classic theater is within range of you, that’s the closest thing left to the way things used to be. Check your location; it may be slightly cheaper.

Read the asterisk. The 50% off applies to the base ticket price. It does not apply to premium format surcharges.

So No! You didn’t imagine it.

Your cheap Friday night movie ritual may be gone, but if you’re down for a Tuesday or Wednesday, you can still find the old prices.

Maybe a new ritual will take place with a cheap weekday movie in the standard room and splurge on a premium seat on the weekends!