AMC Theatres Bans Universal Movies

The COVID-19 pandemic and the stay-at-home orders have severely disrupted the release of many Hollywood films. Theatres have shut down, leaving moviegoers with no choice but to turn to streaming services to watch movies. Several major Hollywood releases have skipped or limited their time on the big screen to go to streaming services.

Blumhouse Productions released The Hunt, The Invisible Man, and Fantasy Island onto streaming services for a $19.99 fee. Universal Pictures followed suit and released Trolls World Tour onto streaming platforms. The movie’s digital release made Universal Pictures more money than the original film did during five months in theaters. Trolls World Tour brought in almost $100 million. The original Trolls made over $150 million at the US Box Office, but about half of that revenue stayed with theaters.

The success of Trolls World Tour prompted NBC Universal CEO, Jeff Shell, to state in a Wall Street Journal interview that Universal expects to “release movies on both formats.” Shell’s comment hints at a possible shift in Universal’s releasing strategies for some of their movies.

This potential shift sent the executives at AMC into a frenzy. AMC released a statement saying:

“It is disappointing to us, but Jeff’s comments as to Universal’s unilateral actions and intentions have left us with no choice. Therefore, effectively immediately AMC will no longer play any Universal movies in any of our theatres in the United States, Europe, or the Middle East. This policy affects any and all Universal movies per se, goes into effect today and as our theatres reopen, and is not some hollow or ill-considered threat. Incidentally, this policy is not aimed solely at Universal out of pique or to be punitive in any way, it also extends to any movie maker who unilaterally abandons current windowing practices absent good faith negotiations between us, so that they as distributor and we as exhibitor both benefit and neither are hurt from such changes. Currently, with the press comment today, Universal is the only studio contemplating a wholesale change to the status quo. Hence, this immediate communication in response.”

This is clearly an attempt by AMC to bully Universal Pictures in reconsidering their releasing strategy. Why? Because AMC knows that plenty of moviegoers would prefer to stay at home and stream movies. In the post-COVID-19 pandemic world, who really wants to sit in a crowded theater with strangers who may or may not be infected with a deadly virus?

Many local governments may require citizens to wear protective masks in public, which could mean wearing these masks in theaters. So would you want to sit for 2 hours with a mask on to watch a movie?

Maybe you would rather sit in your own home and watch a movie?

Let’s put the virus aside. It is cheaper for moviegoers, especially those with a large family, to rent a movie for $19.99. The cost of going to the theater has gotten ridiculously expensive when you factor in the purchase of overpriced popcorn and sodas. Plus, it could be more profitable for studios, which would allow them to make more movies.

Hopefully, Universal Pictures will stick to their new releasing strategy and let some movies come straight to streaming platforms. If AMC can’t understand the changing dynamics of our society and the way moviegoers want to consume films, then AMC will likely not survive.

How would you prefer to watch movies? Streaming or in theaters?