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.”
 
Is it just me, or have movie trailers also become much worse in the last few years? They seem to go on forever and reveal far too much of the plot. They're so bad, they actually make me not want to see the movie.
Someone who looks like the nerd emoji told the execs that "ACKCHULLY trailers with tons of spoilers lead to bigger box offices, we did the study" despite BOs cratering to catastrophic levels in the last years. Just trust the science goy.
 
There are movies I have actually not seen that I would have otherwise due to the trailers. And I don't mean that the trailer made me think the movie would be bad. Usually I can guess if it will be bad beforehand. I mean because the trailer gave away the whole fucking thing and there was no longer a point to seeing it.
I saw a horror movie awhile back only near the end to realize a shot from the trailer was literally the last shot in the movie. Completely deflated the tension for the ending.
 
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“movies start 25-30 minutes after showtime.”
But why? Don't they need theater time to show, you know, movies? The more movies they can fit, the better? Isn't it one of the reasons why theaters hate long movies (fewer showings in a day)? How does this make sense, showing fewer movies per day and running ads to an empty auditorium?
 
But why? Don't they need theater time to show, you know, movies? The more movies they can fit, the better? Isn't it one of the reasons why theaters hate long movies (fewer showings in a day)? How does this make sense, showing fewer movies per day and running ads to an empty auditorium?

They used to just show a couple of trailers, maybe a short cartoon if it was a matinee. I haven't been to a theater since 1997. So I have no idea what it's like now. There's been nothing out that I can't wait for or pirate anyway. I'm not paying $15 for popcorn and soda just to have my eyes burned out by a bunch of phone screens in the rows in front of me. I've heard everyone being on their phone now is quite the problem.
 
But why? Don't they need theater time to show, you know, movies? The more movies they can fit, the better? Isn't it one of the reasons why theaters hate long movies (fewer showings in a day)? How does this make sense, showing fewer movies per day and running ads to an empty auditorium?
Cinemas need to pay film distributers money for each additional screenings, and why do more screenings if there aren't audiences? Better rip off the ones they manage to hold captive.
 
Is it just me, or have movie trailers also become much worse in the last few years? They seem to go on forever and reveal far too much of the plot. They're so bad, they actually make me not want to see the movie.
TRAILER...
<jumpcuts timed to percussion blasts>
STARTS...
<slower jumpcuts and Inception "BWAAAAA">

NOW...
<complete audio dropout - trailer opens with a single "thump" and lingering note under some sort of aerial shot...>
 
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It is almost as if they are trying to encourage piracy. There is very little reason to go to theaters anymore.
 
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