Movie theater chain AMC will show more ads ahead of feature films starting next month. It’s a reversal for one of the country’s largest theater chains, which had previously declined to join other theaters in sprinkling ads between movie trailers.
AMC already plays some ads before its movies — usually before the previews. Now, it will offer advertisers a spot after the previews, right before the movie starts.
Alicia Reese, who analyzes entertainment companies at Wedbush Securities, said companies will likely pay top dollar.
“Because you have a perfectly focused environment where everyone is staring at the screen, lights down, phones away. So it's highly valuable,” she said.
Other theater chains have had these ads for years. AMC held off because the company reportedly worried they would anger moviegoers.
But Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore, said they haven’t hurt other theaters.
“So I think as long as it's not overbearing, overdone, overly long in terms of the presentation of the pre-release commercials, I think audiences will be fine with it,” he said.
And he said, it’s a good time for AMC to try this. There’s a full slate of movie releases this summer, after several years disrupted by the pandemic and labor strikes in Hollywood.
