AMC Says It Will Show More Ads Before Movies | Hacker News Reader

AMC Says It Will Show More Ads Before Movies

nytimes.com

14 pointscebert17 comments

Seems like a death spiral for the theater business. Declining attendance leading to higher prices and more ads for those who remain, leading to declining attendance, rinse and repeat.

I went to see Mission Impossible the other day. It was the first movie I'd seen in theaters in a long time, and honestly it was underwhelming. I have a projector at home and don't generally care about seeing the latest movies (it used to matter to me but no longer does). I don't know when I'll be back, it was that mediocre of an experience.

My sound system isn't as good, but it seems like a better investment to add a couple rear speakers to my Sonos setup instead of continuing to see movies in theaters (at nearly 20/person!). Adding speakers would also make music and TV sound better, not just the movies.

I'm a huge fan of theaters. There's a local art theater (non-profit) that had a tier of support that allowed for free tickets to any movie. The price was $1500/yr, and you could write off a fair amount of that as a charitable donation on your taxes. I loved going, and would easily go multiple times a week, sometimes everyday for a whole week.

Sadly, I moved away from that town, and instead bought a 98" 4k TV. It cost about the same ($1500), and now I can't imagine going back to a theater. This size of TV gives me that same theater experience at home where I can see small details in movies that are hard to see normally on smaller TVs. My sound system isn't as great, good stereo pair, but I could easily improve that for another $1500.

Plus, those costs are generally one time costs, and this setup will likely last me at least 5 years if not 10. Going to a theater just doesn't make sense anymore.

And you've not even mentioned the benefits that everyone always talks about: can pause anytime, cheaper/healthier to eat food at home, etc.

Gift link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/06/business/movies-theaters-...

The biggest problem is that Hollywood doesn’t make good movies anymore. Sequels, remakes, and reboots are so played out. I’d rather just wait for it to come to streaming. There’s maybe two or three movies that have come out this year that are worth paying theater ticket prices for.

This I don't mind. Sitting in a theater before a movie is fun and I like the anticipation of waiting for a movie to start. I'll be either talking to friends or on my phone anyway.

You can also just show up a little later. NBD.

If you can't get more people back to the theaters then you have to expose more advertising to those who do.

Once the bass got toned down, i stopped seeing the point of going to theaters. feels like I'm further from the experience than watching something on my own living room tv from the kitchen. the immersion is long gone, even with "4D".

yes, thank you. You should go to theater for a kids-movie once. Last time, I did hear my neighbors fart and it was the only bass i've heard.

I payed for "original Version with overtone".

HA! Did minecraft in 4D, it has inspired me to buy a big home system so i can show my kids how movies and music were really intended to be consumed. I was a huge audio nerd in HS, some how i fell out of it.

Company is in dire financial straits and depends on selling stock and subscriptions to super fans. So why not extract more revenue from them?

https://archive.ph/I0Sma

I canceled my prime membership because of ads. I expect many people simply won’t stand for it.

Did they hire the same PR firm as Wendys when they announced surge pricing?

At the end of the day, adding advertisements will bite them in the ass, especially with longer movies, because they can't schedule as many screenings per day as they have in the past.

If that doesn't do the trick and they don't backtrack, and you have to catch a movie at AMC (god help you) just come later. Currently, AMC says the movie starts at 7:00pm, we all know to come at 7:25pm to catch the end of things. If they add 10 minutes of ads, make that 7:35pm. You don't have to see the ads, just don't trust the start time.

AMC has provided a unilaterally terrible experience for filmgoers for years, and they should be ashamed to be one of the primary operators in the country. I love and support the independent cinemas in my area, and when I think of AMC, I think of popcorn-strewn hallways, worn-down seats, and having to navigate a depressing half-dead mall in order to go there. While I'm empathetic to those who only have AMC in their area, otherwise, just go somewhere that actually knows how to run a movie theater.

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