AMC now warns moviegoers to expect ‘25-30 minutes’ of ads and trailers - "Will this help us sell more tickets?"

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AMC Theatres is making it easier for moviegoers to know the actual start time of their film screening and avoid sitting through lengthy ads. A new notice has started appearing when people purchase tickets via the AMC website, warning that “movies start 25-30 minutes after showtime.”

This already mirrors the estimated runtime of AMC’s preshow content, which includes ads and trailers, but now customers will be better informed if they want to arrive a little later without missing the start of their movie. This small change also tracks with a report made by The Hollywood Reporter last week that said AMC will soon start “addressing the preshow on its ticketing platforms.”
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Starting today, AMC will also show more ads than before, meaning its preshow lineup may have to be reconfigured to avoid exceeding the 30-minute mark. The company made an agreement with the National CineMedia ad network that includes as much as five minutes of commercials shown “after a movie’s official start time,” according to The Hollywood Reporter, and an additional 30-to-60-second “Platinum Spot” that plays before the last one or two trailers.

AMC was the only major theater chain to reject the National CineMedia ad spot when it was pitched in 2019, telling Bloomberg at the time that it believed “US moviegoers would react quite negatively.” Now struggling financially amid an overall decline in movie theater attendance and box-office grosses, AMC has reversed course, telling The Hollywood Reporter that its competitors “have fully participated for more than five years without any direct impact to their attendance.”
 
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me
We pillage, we plunder, we rifle and loot
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho
We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me
We extort and pilfer, we filch and sack
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho
Maraud and embezzle and even hijack
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me
We kindle and char, inflame and ignite
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho
We burn up the city, we're really a fright
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho

We're rascals and scoundrels, we're villains and knaves
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho
We're devils and black sheep, we're really bad eggs
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me
We're beggars and blighters and ne'er do-well cads
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho
Aye, but we're loved by our mommies and dads
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho
 
We've had that for years in one of our cinemas here. The local cinema thankfully still shows like 10 minutes max, maybe 5
 
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Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me
We pillage, we plunder, we rifle and loot
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho
We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me
We extort and pilfer, we filch and sack
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho
Maraud and embezzle and even hijack
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me
We kindle and char, inflame and ignite
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho
We burn up the city, we're really a fright
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho

We're rascals and scoundrels, we're villains and knaves
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho
We're devils and black sheep, we're really bad eggs
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me
We're beggars and blighters and ne'er do-well cads
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho
Aye, but we're loved by our mommies and dads
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho
Video version:
 
Most movie theaters are dead where I live, the one where I lived shut down years ago, and the other one that's a reasonable distance has common complaints about it being messy and smelling like piss. I'll just pirate instead of paying lots of money for tickets or streaming.
 
Regal Theaters already has 15+ minutes of ads plus 10 minutes of trailers in the area I'm from. I just come to accept it, tbh. At least its a good safeguard to prevent yourself from being late to a screening if you're stuck in traffic or are waiting on people to meet up with you at the theater.
 
Coming from a Canadian but do you have loyalty cards you can opt into via a debit or Mastercard where you can rack up points you can use at.your theatres? With have Scene here that's partnered with Scotia Bank so you can rack up points to use at movie theaters or a money off at a couple different restaurants and grocery stores. I haven't been to the movies in ages but we also use to have cheap nights on Tuesdays but since our local theatre upgraded to cineplex years ago so now it's all ULRLTRAAVX and imax and D-box etc so I'm curious if there's any incentive for you guys to go the movies?
 
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