AMC Theaters (AMC) had a rough start to 2025. The theater chain suffered a major loss as it struggled to attract moviegoers, despite major releases such as “Captain America: Brave New World,” “Snow White,” “Wolf Man,” and “Dog Man.”
In its first-quarter earnings report for 2025, AMC revealed that its total revenues fell by about 9% year-over-year, while movie theater attendance in the U.S. dropped by 11%.
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AMC also reported a net loss of $202.1 million during the quarter, which is higher than the $163.5 million net loss it suffered during the same quarter last year.
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“Setting aside those first quarters directly impacted by Covid and its aftermath, the January to March industry box office in 2025 was the lowest it has been since 1996,” said AMC CEO Adam Aron in the report.
The dip in attendance comes after AMC’s average movie ticket price in the U.S. reached $12.31 during the first quarter of this year, which is higher than the $12.19 average it reported for the same quarter in 2024.
Movie ticket prices have been rising over the past few years amid inflation. According to recent data from The Numbers, the average movie ticket price in the U.S. was $11.31 in 2024, which is 3% higher than the $10.94 average in 2023.
As prices increase, some consumers have been avoiding movie theaters like the flu. A recent survey from the Wall Street Journal found that 65% of consumers said they prefer to watch movies at home, while 35% said they prefer to watch films in theaters.
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AMC customers are in for an unpleasant surprise
Amid this trend, AMC has made a bold move to dodge further price increases; however, customers may not be thrilled about the decision.
The theater chain has reportedly landed a deal with cinema advertising company National CineMedia to run more commercials before movie screenings begin, according to a recent report from The New York Times.
AMC claims this deal will allow it to rely less on increasing movie ticket prices to boost its revenue.
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“For the past five years, AMC has sought out crucial revenue that is not reliant on the increase of base ticket prices,” said AMC in a statement to the Times, adding “while AMC was initially reluctant to bring this to our theaters, our competitors have fully participated for more than five years without any direct impact to their attendance.”
The move from AMC comes after its top rivals, Regal and Cinemark, signed the same deal with National CineMedia in 2019.
AMC was also offered the deal that same year; however, it “flatly rejected” it due to its concerns that “U.S. moviegoers would react quite negatively to the concept,” according to a press release.
The deal is expected to make pre-show advertisements last, on average, 20 to 30 minutes long.
AMC has been desperately trying to attract back movie fans
It is no surprise that AMC is continuing to dodge increasing its ticket prices as it has recently made several attempts to make moviegoing more affordable for consumers, who are battling inflation and higher costs of living.
A few months ago, the theater chain added a new A-List Classic tier subscription to its flagship subscription service AMC Stubs A-List. The new tier offers a lower-price plan for guests who prefer to watch a maximum of one movie per week at AMC Classic locations.
It also made several tweaks to AMC Stubs A-List to attract more frugal customers, such as expanding A-List weekly movie access from three titles a week to four, and lowering the age eligibility from 16 to 13 to attract more teens and families into theaters.
During an earnings call in May, Aron said these changes are “designed to ease the pain of a healthy price increase.”
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