MoviePass has escalated its war with AMC by cutting support from its busiest locations in New York, Los Angeles and Boston. In total, ten theaters will no longer be supported by MoviePass anymore, according to Deadline. The decision is tied to MoviePass seeking more compensation from AMC given the traffic it drives to the chain.
The subscription service reportedly drives in $2 million in revenue for AMC, per a MoviePass insider. MoviePass wants to take a bigger cut, to the tune of a $3 out of every ticket sold and 20-percent of concessions. As you might expect, AMC is not giving in.
"AMC has absolutely no intention, I repeat no intention, of sharing any – I repeat, any, of our admissions revenue or our concessions revenue with MoviePass," relayed AMC CEO Adam Aron during an earnings call.
From the moment MoviePass relaunched and slashed its prices to the current $9.95 tier, problems with AMC began. The theater chain threatened to drop out of its deal with MoviePass and even contemplated suing the service before deciding to see the deal through. But the working relationship between the two never improved and their disagreements are now affecting customers.
The ten theaters in question are:
- AMC Century City 15 in Los Angeles (CA)
- AMC Mercado 20 in Santa Clara (CA)
- AMC Mission Valley 20 in San Diego (CA)
- AMC Disney Springs 24 in Orlando (FL)
- AMC Veterans 24 in Tampa (FL)
- AMC Loews Boston Common 19 in Boston (MS)
- AMC River East 21 in Chicago (IL)
- AMC Tysons Corner 16 in McLean (VA)
- AMC Loews Alderwood Mall 16 in Lynwood (WSH)
- AMC Empire 25 in New York (NY)
As a negotiating tactic, MoviePass pulled support from these ten theaters without ever telling AMC, putting the problem onto the customer. Many of them took to Twitter to vent about their frustrations with the issue, blaming AMC.
Some of our guests say MoviePass may be blocking the use of their service at a handful of AMC locations. AMC has not restricted MoviePass acceptance at our theatres, nor have we heard from MoviePass about this. MoviePass customers should contact MoviePass for clarification.
— AMC Guest Services (@AMCHelps) January 25, 2018
AMC has been trying to do damage control by letting guests know they should contact MoviePass. Those who do reach out to MoviePass through Twitter are being relayed generic messages that say it no longer works the specific theaters.
"From day one, MoviePass has been 100% for our subscribers – they are the most loyal fans we've ever seen and we're honored to remove a price barrier than had been preventing the average movie-lover from going to the movies," said MoviePass CEO Ted Farnsworth. "We're here for them and will fight battle for them every day of the week."
So what does this all mean? It means buckle up, because the battle between MoviePass and AMC is just beginning. With MoviePass firing the first shot, things may take a turn for the worse. It wouldn't be surprising to see AMC cut support of MoviePass completely.
For the time being, MoviePass still works in other AMC theaters.
